Richard Howe has been hired as the new executive director of the North Texas Regional Extension Center (NTREC), replacing former director Mike Alverson who retired August 1 after leading the organization from its inception in 2010.

Previously, Howe served in several health care IT positions as a consultant and executive. Richard was also a CIO at two academic medical centers, a software vendor executive and a medical school professor. He graduated from the University of Colorado and obtained his doctorate degree from UCLA. He also served in the U.S. Army as a Medical Service Corp officer.

NTREC, funded by an April 2010 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), has a mission to provide education and assistance to physicians when implementing Electronic Health Records (EHR) technology to improve the quality of health care services in the region. Established by the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation (DFWHC Foundation), NTREC assists physicians in 42 North Texas counties in implementing EHR.

“We are thrilled to have Richard Howe on board,” said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. “He will work closely to continue the strong NTREC tradition started by Mike Alverson. He will also work diligently to assist North Texas healthcare providers in serving patients while utilizing the most effective electronic health records and health care technology on the market.”

Under Alverson’s leadership, NTREC officially enrolled 1,498 providers, achieving 100 percent of its enrollment goal. NTREC was the first group in Texas to achieve its complete goal.