47 providers from Coastal Medical receive incentives

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. – The electronic health records’ firm eClinicalWorks announced on Oct. 23 that 47 providers from Coastal Medical have each received $18,000 in incentive payments from the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services. The incentives were established under the federal stimulus law to reward medical providers who could successfully demonstrate meaningful use of an electronic health records (EHR) system in ways that improve the quality, safety and effectiveness of patient-centered care.
“[The firm] eClinicalWorks has been an essential element of our successful patient-centered medical home practice transformation efforts at Coastal Medical,” said Dr. G. Alan Kurose, president of Coastal Medical.
Coastal Medical is one of the state’s largest group practices, consisting of 101 providers with 20 offices across Rhode Island, providing care to about 105,000 patients.
“The functionalities of eClinicalWorks have enabled many important changes in practice workflow, and have helped us to deliver on the promise of fully coordinated care that is truly patient-centered,” Kurose said.
Earlier this year, Aquidneck Medical Associates was one of the first practices in Rhode Island to achieve federal “meaningful use” designation and receive federal incentive awards. As a leading participant in the state’s “direct” pilot program that interconnects physicians, the practice had, in its own innovative approach, expanded its direct connection to link up with the emergency room at Newport Hospital.