PatientKeeper Inc. closed a $13 million round of equity and debt funding aimed at accelerating its application for a “meaningful use” designation as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The ARRA includes a nearly $20 billion provision to increase adoption of electronic medical records technology by doctors offices and hospitals. Healthcare providers that can demonstrate so-called “meaningful use” of the technology will be eligible for those dollars, but the exact definition and requirements of meaningful use have yet to be spelled out.

Newton, Mass.-based PatientKeeper makes physician documentation and computerized physician order entry software.

The company said Flybridge Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Whitney & Co. all contributed to the equity portion of the funding round; the venture debt component came from Lighthouse Capital Partners. PatientKeeper claims 15,000 physicians use its applications and expects to more than double that number by the middle of next year.

The company added Flybridge Capital Partners’ Chip Harard to its board of directors as part of the financing deal.