“President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget includes an investment of $125 million in an “improved and modernized” electronic health record system for the Indian Health Service.”
“IHS, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, currently uses the Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS), which was developed in close partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, in 2017, the VA announced that it will phase out support of RPMS.”
“President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request for IHS included an initial $25 million EHR investment to begin transitioning to a replacement for RPMS. The FY 2021 allocation continues this effort…”
“According to the HHS budget document, IHS ‘requires a secure, certified EHR system to improve healthcare delivery and quality, enhance access to care, reduce medical errors and provide high quality services.’”
“Writing recently in a Health Affairs blog, researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine found that ‘years of inattention and underfunding have left the RPMS unusable by current technological standards, making it difficult to provide continuous, consistent care…’”
“Further, they point out that ‘until FY 2020, there was no budget line item for IHS health IT at all.’” Read the full article here.
Source: Trump FY 2021 budget seeks $125M for new Indian Health Service EHR – By Greg Slabodkin, February 10, 2020. Health Data Management.
