Louisiana Chosen as One of Only 12 Electronic Health Records Project Sites by Federal Government - available reimbursements up to $29 Million for Participating Practitioners

Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) Secretary Alan Levine were joined today by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt to announce that Louisiana has been chosen as one of 12 sites for implementation of a five-year CMS demonstration project that encourages small- to mediumsized primary care physician practices to use electronic health records (EHR) to improve the quality of patient care. The total project reimbursements for participating practitioners could equal $29 million during the five-year period. A small- to medium-sized primary care physician practice is defined as one with 20 or fewer medical doctors.

"We know electronic health records are a critical component of the future of the American health care system and this demonstration project represents a huge win for the state of Louisiana said Department of Health adn Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine. "EHRs will mean better privacy and security of personal health information, faster diagnosis, shorter wait times for patients and most importantly, fewer complications and lives lost due to medical errors."

The state's grant application for the CMS EHR Demonstration Project was submitted by the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (the Quality Forum) a private, nonprofit, statewide collaborate of public and private community stakeholders. The Quality Forum and its stakeholders will assist CMS with physician practice identification and recruitment, and coordinate stakeholder activity to support EHR adoption and quality measurement reporting by participating physicians. CMS staff will direct implementation and retain full control of the project.

"The Quality Forum is excited to to serve as a community partner in this endeavor. The mission of our organization is to lead collaborative efforts to improve the quality of care for the people of Louisiana” said Shannon Robshaw, Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum Executive Director. “Our success with this application is the direct result of many stakeholders statewide committing to this effort, and the resulting award will benefit thousands of patients.

Louisiana is one of four sites to begin recruiting for the program this year, with implementation scheduled for this fall. The program is designed to recruit 200 primary care physician practices from each site. One hundred practices will be randomly placed into the control group, which receives no enhanced reimbursement from CMS and the other 100 practices will be placed into the participating group with enhanced CMS reimbursement. Both groups will receive support committed by Louisiana stakeholders, such as technical assistance with adopting an EHR and quality improvement recognition.

After the first two years of the program, the 100 participating physician practices must choose a Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology-certified EHR to perform specific minimum core functionalities, including clinical documentation, ordering and recording lab results and recording prescriptions. Additional CMS incentive payments can be earned for more sophisticated health information technology use, achieving higher scores on a “CMS Office Systems Survey,” and the practice’s use of EHR functionalities to change and improve the way it operates.

Practices that have not implemented a certified EHR or do not meet the minimum functional use requirements by the end of the second year will be terminated from the demonstration project. During years three through five, incentive payments to the practices will be based on actual performance on the clinical quality measures. Total CMS payments received under the project may be up to $58,000 per physician or $290,000 per practice.

An electronic health record is a computerized patient medical file containing medical
information including treatment histories, test results, prescription records and X-rays.
According to CMS, interoperable electronic health records have proven beneficial to both
patients and physicians resulting in fewer medical errors, adverse drug events and redundant tests and medical procedures. Other benefits of EHR include faster diagnoses and treatment, timely preventive care, better communications between physicians and patients, shorter wait times and lower costs.

To view the CMS EHR grant application submitted by the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, please visit www.lhcqf.org.

To learn more about the new EHR demonstration project, please visit:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DemoProjectsEvalRpts/downloads/2008_Electronic_Health_Records_ Demonstration.pdf.

CMS is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the federal agency responsible for administering the Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), and several other health-related programs.

The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum is a private, not-for-profit organization whose
mission is to lead evidence-based collaborative initiatives to improve the health of people of Louisiana. Its volunteer board represents a cross section of public and private insurance purchasers, patient advocates, providers, physicians and insurers in the state. Dozens of other stakeholders volunteer their time in committees, which focus on health information technology, quality measurement, medical homes and outreach and education.

If you are interested in participating in this project, or for more details, please contact the LAFP office at 225-923-3313, or via email at rcanella@lafp.org.