HHS and DOL Announce Awards for HIT and Health Jobs Training - February 17, 2010

On February 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced more than $750 million in awards authorized under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). As part of the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program, $386 million will go to 40 states and state-designated entities for the development of state-level health information exchange. Another $375 million will go to 32 non-profit organizations for the creation of Regional Extension Centers, which will help health care professionals become meaningful users of electronic health records. Additional awards will be made to both programs in the coming weeks. In conjunction with the announcement by HHS, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it is awarding $225 million in ARRA funds to train 15,000 workers in health care and HIT-related careers. The joint announcement, along with a list of grant recipients, is here.