Anita Somplasky, RN, serves as the Executive Director for Pennsylvania’s two Regional Extension Centers (RECs) funded through the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology. The centers are responsible for providing technical assistance to help as many as 8,700 Pennsylvania primary care providers implement EHRs and to meet the federal meaningful use objectives to qualify for bonus payments under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
In this role, she is be responsible for the oversight, management and leadership of REC staff to assist practices in using EHRs to enhance patient care and improve outcomes. She sits on the ONC steering committees for Workflow and Practice Management, which develop training materials for other RECs.
Previously, Ms. Somplasky served as the Director for outpatient quality improvement projects for Quality Insights of Pennsylvania. In this role, she managed the Doctor’s Office Quality for Information Technology (DOQ-IT) project, which helped providers adopt Electronic Health Records in 235 primary care practices in Pennsylvania. Additionally, she oversaw Pennsylvania’s Access Plus Quality Improvement work for its Medicaid program. Drawing on this experience, she collaborated to provide training to Coaches for the Improving Performance in Practice program, a project to help providers achieve the National Committee Quality Assurance (NCQA) Medical Home certification by using EHRs to support more effective and efficient patient care. Before joining Quality Insights, Ms. Somplasky served as the Director for Pennsylvania’s first statewide Medical Home Project for Children with Special Health Care Needs.
After obtaining a nursing diploma from the Helene Fuld School of Nursing, she received specialized training in neonatal care and in maternal and child health. She developed expertise in outpatient practice management through programs offered by the Medical Group Management Association and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. She was named to the Section on Administration and Practice Management by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1998. She is an active member of Southeastern Pennsylvania Health Quality Association.