Healthcare IT Update

Want to know who’s getting those ARRA dollars? Here’s the list.

If the feds are going to get providers anywhere close to their ambitious HIT implementation goals, we’re going to need a lot more HIT workers. That’s why the Department of Health & Human Services and Department of Labor are shelling out big bucks to train the next wave of ‘meaningful users’.

The government has extended about $1 billion in ARRA grants to further develop health information technology (HIT), skills-building and education in the healthcare sector, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced recently.

Over 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians will benefit from the Recovery Act grant, which will make HIT widely available by 2014, the release says. The grant will also beef up the healthcare workforce — including nursing, pharmacy technology, and IT — through training…