CMS Approves California’s $40M Health IT Plan for EMS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has signed off on California’s Health Information Technology (HIT) for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) proposal for $40 million through September 30, 2021, according to the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA).
The approval of State’s advance planning document adds additional funding for administrative support and implementation activities for a new Health Information Technology in Emergency Medical Services (HITEMS) project, the organization said.
The HITEMS project will facilitate emergency care and disaster response by developing bidirectional connections between local health information exchanges (HIEs), EMS agencies and providers, local hospitals, and medical professionals. This project will advance care coordination by allowing Medicaid providers to meet meaningful use requirements through improved health information exchange and advancing interoperability tools and services for EMS, community paramedics, end-of-life decisions and disaster medical responses, the agency said.
The California Department of Health Care Services’ (DHCS) will partner with EMSA to develop the project, which is estimated to run through September 30, 2021 with an estimated cost of $40 million dollars using a 90/10 matching formula. The next step for EMSA will be to formally solicit proposals from local EMS agencies for health information exchange for EMS, which will begin in the next 30 to 45 days, the agency said.
