Don’t guess; your vendor’s got a list.
The stimulus funding, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is starting to flow. Or if not flow, the feds have at least connected the pipes without actually turning on the spigot. So what does this mean to CIO’s in the health arena?
The stimulus funding, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is starting to flow. Or if not flow, the feds have at least connected the pipes without actually turning on the spigot. So what does this mean to CIO’s in the health arena?
One funding opportunity (https://www.grantsolutions.gov/gs/preaward/previewPublicAnnouncement.do?id=10534 ) will support the creation and operation of health information exchanges. If you haven’t already connected with the exchange in your state, it is time to do so. The exchange will likely be run by state government, a private entity, or some combination. Although there may be multiple regional exchanges in your state, the HIE grant opportunity is targeted to the “state designated entity (SDE).” This will be the exchange that the state’s Governor names as the statewide exchange.
Your job will be to ensure that your electronic medical record system is able to supply information through the exchange to requestors. Typically this exchange will be brokered through interfaces maintained by the exchange to your EMR software and with the requesting site. The kinds of information exchanged will include eligibility and claims transactions, eprescribing transactions, laboratory orders and results, public health reportable conditions, clinical information, and quality measures. Each state exchange will then connect to the National Health Information Network, allowing interstate transfers of information.
There are a host of policy and privacy issues around this exchange, so you should also be talking to your legal advisors.
Enabling the electronic exchange of health information is a key component in making hospitals and physicians eligible to receive incentive payments from Medicaid and Medicare starting in 2011. The implicit promise behind funding this infrastructure is lowered healthcare costs through the avoidance of duplicative testing, more complete and timely patient information, and, ultimately, better outcomes.
