9/10/2007

Vol. IV, No. 32

Health Information Technology Team Report
Brought to you by Thomas Jefferson University’s Department of Health Policy

Pending SCHIP Bills Contain IT Provisions

The Senate-passed version of a bill to fund SCHIP provides for developing an EHR for children
enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP; the House version requires HHS to plan, develop, and adopt a
health IT system for all Medicare providers and to analyze the impact, feasibility, and costs of using
health IT in underserved communities, and requires Medicare providers to use open-source or
government-developed technology. Some representatives are calling for HHS to offer the VA’s
VISTA EHR to all physicians. Congress must pass an SCHIP funding bill by late September to
maintain federal funding for the program. (Government Health IT, 9/4)
Federal Government To Award $31M in EHR, Health IT Grants
HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration announced last week that it will provide $31.4
million in grants to help health centers in underserved areas adopt EHRs and other health IT. The 46
grants, ranging from $77,100 to $1.4 million, include 25, totaling $27 million, to fund EHRs and
networks to link the centers receiving grants; 8 of $125,000 or less to help clinics plan for EHRs or
other health IT; and 13, totaling $3 million, for adoption of non-EHR health IT, such as e-prescribing,
CPOE, and health data exchanges. Grant recipients include centers in California, Delaware, Florida,
Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Utah. (iHealthBeat, 9/4; Modern Healthcare, 8/27)
Federal Agency Details Health IT Panel Privatization Plans
HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT on 9/5 outlined its 2-year, $13 million plan to
award contracts to organizations to develop AHIC 2.0, successor to the American Health Information
Community federal health IT advisory panel. National Coordinator Robert Kolodner said HHS
expects AHIC 2.0 to address business and technical obstacles to an interoperable health IT network
and to fully transition to the private sector by spring 2008, adding that it should focus on consumer
benefits, durability, and adaptability. HHS plans for AHIC to receive revenue by charging for access
to the Nationwide Health Information Network. The deadline to apply for the contract is 10/5, and
HHS plans to award the contract by 11/13. (Government Health IT, 9/5; iHealthBeat, 9/6)
Pennsylvania Hospitals Lead in IT Adoption, Report Finds
Pennsylvania hospitals lead the nation in adopting health IT, such as EHRs, to boost care quality and
reduce errors, according to “Improving Patient Care: Pennsylvania Hospitals’ Use of Information
Technology”, released by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and based on a
2006 survey by the American Hospital Association. The report found that, relative to hospitals
nationally, Pennsylvania hospitals use more IT, particularly CPOE and electronic results review; have
more EHRs; spend more per bed on IT; and use more bar coding, electronic decision support, RFID
technology, and clinical data sharing. (Healthcare IT News, 8/29; iHealthBeat, 9/4)
Vendor Offers EHR to Promote Electronic Data Collection
EHR vendor RemedyMD just began offering its specialty-specific EHR and practice management
software to ambulatory physician practices free of charge, saying this will dramatically increase the
number of practices collecting data electronically. The vendor will continue to charge for its other
products. “This is an effort to provide an economic incentive to collect better data in order to drive
better outcomes,” said Michael Malone, RemedyMD president and COO. (iHealthBeat, 9/4/07)

Any questions regarding this newsletter can be directed to

Albert Crawford at albert.crawford@jefferson.edu or Erin
Whitesell at erin.whitesell@jefferson.edu.