The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will grant federal matching funds to Medicaid programs in North Dakota, Hawaii, Ohio and Massachusetts to help with the development of electronic health records.
The funding is allotted under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grants consist of:
- $226,000 for North Dakota;
- $836,000 for Hawaii;
- $2.29 million for Ohio; and
- $3.56 million for Massachusetts
CMS officials said EHRs would improve the quality of healthcare for residents by making it easier for providers who treat Medicaid patients to coordinate care. Additionally, EHRs make it easier for patients to access the information they need to make decisions about their healthcare.
ARRA provides a 90 percent federal match for state planning activities to administer incentive payments to Medicaid providers.
“Meaningful and interoperable use of EHRs in Medicaid will increase healthcare efficiency, reduce medical errors and improve quality outcomes and patient satisfaction within and across the states,” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid, CHIP and Survey & Certification at CMS.
CMS officials said the four states plan to use the funding to analyze healthcare IT activities. Offiicials will assess barriers to each state's use of EHRs and determine provider eligibility for EHR incentive payments. Each state will also create a state Medicaid HIT plan, which will define its vision for its long-term HIT use.