Community health centers that deal with some of the nation’s most disadvantaged people often don’t have much money to spend on IT. With that in mind, Ingenix is looking to lend a helping hand.
The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based healthcare IT and services company has unveiled a special version of its CareTracker practice management and electronic health record system, designed specifically for federally qualified health centers looking to demonstrate meaningful use and qualify for federal incentive funding.
“Ingenix is making it easier for community health centers – organizations that provide medical care to many of the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable people – to access and use advanced health information technology systems to enhance patient services and eliminate disparities in care,” said Steven Tolle, the company’s senior vice president of physician solutions. “Ingenix CareTracker delivers tools and technologies that will help community health centers get more from limited financial resources, help ensure compliance with state and federal regulations and reduce administrative complexity, so they can focus on caring for patients."
"The system makes it easier to connect with hospitals, labs and health plans, expediting access to clinical and patient information that can support better health outcomes," he said.
Company officials say the specially designed CareTracker solution offers health centers data collection and reporting modules for compliance with legislative mandates, support in other languages (Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese), sliding-fee calculators for help with co-pays and out-of-pocket obligations at check-in, and eligibility verification tools to help centers steer patients to the right health plan or payment schedule.
The company is also offering a package of interest-free financing and meaningful use guarantees designed to help community health centers implement the system with the minimum of up-front costs.
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), passed earlier this year, the government is offering incentives to healthcare providers who can prove meaningful use of healthcare IT as they advance to an electronic medical record system. The incentives, administered as reimbursements by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, can amount to as much as $63,000 for physicians who practice in federally qualified health centers.
This latest announcement marks a busy month for Ingenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group. Earlier this week, the company announced plans to acquire Executive Health Resources, a Newtown Square, Pa.-based provider of medical necessity compliance and physician medical management solutions for hospitals. And late last month, the company signed a merger agreement with Picis, a Wakefield, Mass.-based provider of health information solutions for the high-acuity areas of hospitals.