A consortium of Spokane-based Inland Northwest Health Services, the North Idaho Health Network Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, and four other nonprofit groups has been awarded a $12.8 million federal stimulus grant intended to boost adoption of electronic medical records by physicians in Washington state and Idaho.

Qualis Health, a Seattle-based, health-care consulting organization, leads the new consortium called the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC). The center initially will focus on helping primary-care providers switch from paper files to electronic medical records compatible with Medicaid and Medicare systems, says Peggy Evans, WIREC's director.

"The purpose is to get providers onto electronic health records and help them communicate with other health-care entities," Evans says.

Qualis started taking applications for assistance last week, she says.

INHS will provide support to small primary-care practices and medical clinics with 10 or fewer providers that choose its technology, says Jac Davies, director of Northwest TeleHealth, an INHS health-information technology service.

Through the grant, INHS will provide labor to help install hardware and software at physician offices and clinics, Davies says. Grant funds can't be used to buy hardware or software.

Davies says she doesn't know yet whether INHS's participation in WIREC will require it to hire more employees here. INHS, which serves 38 hospitals, hundreds of clinics, and thousands of physicians, has a staff of 300 dedicated to health information technology, she says.

Electronic records will enable physicians to share relevant patient information as needed with specialists, labs, clinics, and hospitals, Davies says.

"Ultimately, it will result in less need, and hopefully no need, for patients to run around trying to get medical records if they change physicians or go to a specialist or a hospital," she says.

Using such a system, physicians can review lab results and run reports and charts documenting patients' conditions and care, without having to shuffle through paper files, she says.

"It's much easier to track data and spot trends with electronic records than with paper files," Davies says.

About 65 percent of Spokane-area physicians now use electronic medical records systems, but only 40 percent of physicians nationwide use such systems, she says.

Smaller health-care provider practices are most likely to be using paper still, Davies says.

The grant is intended to get WIREC up and running in the first two years and for the center to be self-sustaining after that, Davies says. Eventually, providers will be required to use electronic medical records to receive full funding from Medicare and Medicaid for services they cover.

North Idaho Health Network, which represents 98 percent of the physicians and five nonprofit community-owned hospital in North Idaho, will provide assistance similar to INHS for qualifying providers who choose its electronic medical records technology, says Andria Thomas, NIHN director of business and community relations.

"We will help with implementation, setup, training, and servicing," she says.

Other electronic medical records system vendors involved in WIREC are Community Choice, of Wenatchee, Wash.; Seattle-based PTSO of Washington; and Boise-based Idaho Health Data Exchange.