The Hawaii Island Beacon Community, a federally funded project aiming to improve healthcare and increase the use of electronic health records among primary-care providers on the "Big Island," is launching a program to transform 30 independent primary-care practices into patient-centered medical homes.

The practices will use free of charge the services and educational materials of TransforMED, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians, according to a news release.

The medical-home model makes heavy use of electronic health records and e-communication as well as other information technology tools, such as clinical decision support and patient registries.

The federal government is providing $343,000 in funding for Hawaii's medical-home transformation project, according to a Hawaii Island Beacon Community representative.

The HIBC is administered through the College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Hawaii Island, also known as the Big Island, is one of 17 communities participating in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program.