Thank You North Texas Regional Extension Center

Goodbye

Blog by Kristin Jenkins, President, DFW Hospital Council Foundation

It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to an outstanding program – the North Texas Regional Extension Center (NTREC). We are so grateful to Dr. Matt Murray of Cook Children’s Health Care System and Dr. Richard Howe, the executive director of NTREC. Their valuable leadership brought more than 1,900 primary care physicians to meaningful use of electronic health records. We are also thankful for the contributions of NTREC’s first executive director Mike Alverson. And let’s not forget our current NTREC staff Patrick Casey and Patricia Hawkins. We appreciate their hard work for seeing this grant through to its completion.

Six years ago, we began what was supposed to be a mere two-year journey to bring physicians to meaningful use of certified electronic health records. After two extensions from the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, most of the physicians using REC services met their Stage 1 Meaningful Use goals. It was a great success.

We now move on to a new stage of support for physician partners as they tackle the new Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 requirements. We stand ready to serve these physicians as they approach the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new reimbursement challenge. Six years ago, most of our physicians used paper records. Look how far we’ve come!

It has been an honor to work with our staff and the community’s physicians to start a foundation of information sharing through electronic recording of patient encounters. Thanks team, you have served our patients and hospitals well.

Dr. Richard Howe

Dr. Richard Howe



Dr. Matt Murray

Dr. Matt Murray



Mike Alverson

Mike Alverson