ONC has set up a number of programs to help doctors in small practice the most important of which is the Health Information Technology Extension Program.
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As asked and answered in the call
Dr. Barr: Dr. Zaroukian, how do you think meaningful use could work in a smaller, solo practice? Is it feasible, and have you seen any examples?
Mike Zaroukian: Yes. In some ways it will be easier because there will be fewer individuals to coordinate to achieve meaningful use and less need to, if you will, to deal with the compromises that occur in any larger practice where a one person solution may not be optimal for another. The key issue I think, as Dr. Blumenthal pointed out, is smaller and more rural, less connected practices will have a greater difficulty amassing the expertise necessarily to set up the technology and change management and other parts of this. This is where the regional extension centers and other types of resources, hospital affiliations or beacon communities, etcetera, where those are available to a solo practice they can be a big help allowing you to stand on their shoulders and use their expertise to get it done. But from the perspective of is it achievable within that practice, a solo or a small group practice, the answer is absolutely, yes. In some ways there’ll be fewer barriers of certain kinds that make the biggest difference which is people and processes.