In the spirit of continued partnership with CCHCs in California, the next phase of the CNEA program will adapt with the feedback from interested clinics. The program will have several phases prior to allocating any grant dollars. First, organizations meeting the above criteria for a model will submit Letters of Intent. These organizations will then participate in a day-long salon with funders. Based upon feedback at this meeting, funders may reshape the grant program outlined below. Finally invitations will be sent to some applicants with instructions on submitting full proposals.

This second phase of the California Networks for EHR Adoption initiative seeks to increase adoption levels and lower adoptions costs of EHRs in CCHCs. In the first phase of CNEA, we attempted to create new NEAs in California. Given the complexity of creating such an organization, the next phase of the initiative will support California clinic participation in NEAs or the expansion of EHR collaborative infrastructures.

This phase of the effort may support one or more of the following models:

1. Leverage existing national EHR networks to provide for individual or groups of clinics in California;
2. Work with a California clinic consortia to expand their existing EHR product and implementation services to at least three of their members;
3. Support multi-site clinics to expand adoption of their existing EHR product and implementation services to at least three additional clinic sites; and/or
4. An alternative model not represented above that provides an existing EHR product and implementation services to CCHCs in a region or service area (such as a hospital system).

Given the limited dollars remaining in this program, we anticipate that this grant opportunity, like the last for CNEA will be very competitive. We expect to make no more than 6 grants in total.

Eligibility: The organization applying for funding must be a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) entity headquartered in California. Examples of eligible organizations include, but are not limited to: a clinic consortium, a stand-alone technical services organization, a single clinic looking to extend its technology to other parties, or a current hosting site, such as a hospital or provider group.

Letters of Intent: Letters of Intent can be submitted online between March 17, 2008 and 5:00pm April 14, 2008 at http://www2.communityclinics.org.

Please click here to download and print an Adobe Acrobat version of the
California Networks for EHR Adoption: Request For Letters of Intent

Please click here to submit an online Letter of Intent: http://www2.communityclinics.org

Please also see the issue brief: Creating EHR Networks in the Safety Net

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download that program for free by selecting the Adobe link below.