What is the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program?
The Basics
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) funds the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program. The Beacon Communities are seventeen communities across the country that had already made significant inroads in the adoption of health IT prior to the grant award.
The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program goals include building and strengthening a health information technology infrastructure; improving patient outcomes, health care quality, and cost efficiencies; and spearheading innovations to achieve better health and better health care.
The Beacon Communities are microcosms of the rest of America, and as such, the lessons that are learned from them will play a key role in health care transformation.
Leading the Charge
The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program is part of a larger health care improvement revolution that demonstrates how health IT investments and Meaningful Use of electronic health records (EHR) advance the vision of patient-centered care, while achieving the three-part aim of better health, better care at lower cost.
These diverse partners will provide unique insights into best practices that can be applied to similar communities nationwide. By reading about Beacon Community Programs and watching the videos below, you can learn more about best practices in health care quality improvement.
Beacons Communities: Improving the Quality of Health Care in the United States
See the following videos for examples of how Beacon Community Centers are using health IT to improve healthcare quality.
- Southeastern Michigan Beacon Community: Improving Diabetic Care
- San Diego Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Southern Piedmont Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Hawaii County Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Southeastern Minnesota Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Central Indiana Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Crescent City Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Delta BLUES Beacon Community, Mississippi: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Keystone Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Western New York Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Utah Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Bangor Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Greater Tulsa Health Access Network Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Beacon Community of the Inland Northwest: Improving Health Through Health Technology
- Colorado Beacon Community: Improving Health Through Health Technology
