May 4, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman André Carson welcomed the announcement by Vice President Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that Indianapolis will receive federal funding and serve as a pilot community for a program aimed at promoting eventual wide-scale use of health information technology.

The Indianapolis-based Indiana Health Information Exchange, Inc., the largest health information exchange in the country, will receive a $16 million grant as a part of the Beacon Community Program. This organization is one of 15 applicants selected to receive a portion of $220 million allocated by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"The health information technology sector has been growing rapidly and is responsible for creating many jobs in Indiana and across the country," said Congressman Carson. "With the enactment of the new health care reform law, this grant is especially timely. As health care providers prepare to add millions of Americans to their rolls, this grant will put local Hoosiers to work and will solidify our city's place at the forefront of the health information technology sector."

More information on the Beacon Community Program:

Through the Beacon Communities program, fifteen communities across the country were selected to serve as pilots for the eventual wide-scale use of health information technology. They will each receive a portion of $220 million in Recovery Act funding, which will not only help achieve meaningful and measurable improvements in health care quality, safety and efficiency in the selected communities, but also help lay the groundwork for an emerging health IT industry that is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs.

The selected Beacon Communities will use health IT resources within their community as a foundation for bringing doctors, hospitals, community health programs, federal programs and patients together to design new ways of improving quality and efficiency to benefit patients and taxpayers. Each Beacon Community has elected specific and measurable improvement goals in each of three vital areas for health systems improvement: quality, cost-efficiency, and population health. The goals vary according to the needs and priorities of each community.

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