Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel announced the awarding of a $377,190 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Bronx RHIO (Bronx Regional Health Information Organization).

“As changes to our broken health care system are considered in Washington, I am pleased to help those entities who are bringing quality care to the Bronx, such as Bronx RHIO. Once reforms are made, not only will this quality continue, it will be enhanced,” said Rep. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health.

Charles Scaglione, Executive Director of Bronx RHIO, said, “Thanks to the efforts of Congressman Engel, the Bronx RHIO will be able to expand and improve its ability to build secure data sharing throughout the Bronx and facilitate better care for residents while preventing prescription errors, avoiding duplicate testing, improving efficiency and reducing costs.”

The Bronx RHIO is a not-for-profit organization organized by the borough’s leading healthcare providers. Participants include hospitals, such as Montefiore Medical Center, individual physicians, long-term care and home care services. Collectively, these providers deliver some 85 percent of the healthcare received by the borough’s 1.36 million residents. This includes over 95 percent of the Bronx’s annual hospital discharges, over 600,000 annual Emergency Department visits, and 4.5 million annual ambulatory care visits.