A Grand Junction doctor is back from Washington DC, where he was invited to talk about Mesa County healthcare.

Dr. Gregory Reicks was one of about 80 healthcare providers invited to be apart of the White House and Department of Health & Human Services town hall meeting on health information technology.

Reicks says he was chosen because Mesa County has become a model for the rest of the county in how it uses technology to share information.

The idea is the more that is shared, the better quality healthcare can be provided.

Recent federal funds have provided extra resources to allow local doctors to help patients even more.

Reicks says, “About 51 practices in Western Colorado, all primary care practices, have been receiving some additional coaching and training and some additional tools in their offices just to improve the efficacy of the way they are delivering care.

Reicks says it was inspiring to hear what other communities are doing to improve quality of care.

He says the next step is to expand their system to other communities on the Western Slope.