An overwhelming 71% of respondents to a recent survey say they believe Regional Extension Centers (RECs) will not deliver on their mission.

The Medical Blog recently polled physicians, health IT insiders and healthcare professionals on the topic.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocated billions of dollars to help with the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and part of that push was the creation of RECs to help 100,000 priority primary care physicians to become “meaningful users” of EHRs within two years. Eight months into the initiative, only 29% of respondents feel RECs will fulfill their mission.

The poll received just 87 total responses, but considering the topic and the quality of the respondents, some important information can be gleamed from the survey. The top reasons respondents felt RECs would fail to deliver on their goal is that RECs are choosing brand-name companies, which aren’t always a good fit for certain providers. Additionally, the relationship between recent hires at RECs and specific vendors is cause for concern among some respondents.

Survey respondents also expressed concern over the short time frame RECs have to build the necessary infrastructure and acquire needed expertise. They also were concerned that resources allocated to the RECs were insufficient.

Of the 29% that believed RECs would fulfill their mission, the top reason was that RECs have a solid RFP evaluation process. Respondents also said physicians will need support from RECs when implementing EHR systems and EHR software vendors may not provide sufficient support.