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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) funding opportunities:
Medicaid and Medicare Incentives for Providers using Electronic Health Records (EHRs): The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide reimbursement incentives for eligible professionals and hospitals who are successful in becoming “meaningful users” of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.
These incentive payments begin in 2011 and gradually decrease. Starting in 2015, providers are expected to have adopted and be actively utilizing a certified EHR in compliance with the "meaningful use" definition or they will be subject to financial penalties under Medicare.
Office for the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC): The HITECH Act seeks to improve patient care and make it patient-centric through the creation of a secure, interoperable nationwide health information network. A key premise is that information should follow the patient, and artificial obstacles -- technical, bureaucratic, or business related -- should not be a barrier to the seamless exchange of information.
Therefore, secure information exchange needs to occur across institutional and business boundaries so that the appropriate information is available to improve coordination, efficiency, and quality of care.
The HITECH grants are specifically designed to work together to provide the necessary assistance and technical support to providers, enable coordination and alignment within and among states, establish connectivity to the public health community in case of emergencies, and assure the workforce is properly trained and equipped to be meaningful users of EHRs.
- Office of the National Coordinator: HITECH Funding Opportunities Main Page
- Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP). Due Jan 25, 2010. The ONC has announced $60 million in four-year cooperative agreements for this program. The purpose of the SHARP program is to fund research focused on achieving breakthrough advances to address well-documented problems that have impeded adoption. The ONC expects to award four cooperative agreements: 1) Security of Health Information Technology; 2) Patient-Centered Cognitive Support; 3) Healthcare Application and Network Platform Architectures; and, 4) Secondary Use of EHR Data.
- Program of Assistance for University-Based Training. Due Jan 25, 2010. The purpose of this program - one component of the Health IT Workforce Program - is to rapidly increase the availability of individuals qualified to serve in specific health information technology professional roles requiring university-level training.
- Competency Examination for Individuals Completing Non-Degree Training. Due Jan 25, 2010. This funding opportunity, one component of the Health IT Workforce Program, will provide $6 million in grants to an institution of higher education (or consortia thereof) to support the development and initial administration of a set of health IT competency examinations.
- State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program. Due Oct 16, 2009. These grant programs will support states and/or State Designated Entities (SDEs) in establishing health information exchange (HIE) capacity among health care providers and hospitals in their jurisdictions. Such efforts at the state level will establish and implement appropriate governance, policies, and network services within the broader national framework to rapidly build capacity for connectivity between and among health care providers. State programs to promote HIE will help to realize the full potential of EHRs to improve the coordination, efficiency and, quality of care.
The State of Oregon applied for these funds in October 2009. See Oregon State HIE Cooperative Agreement documents, Documents, Reports and Presentations.
- Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program. Due Feb 1, 2010. This program will provide funding to communities to build and strengthen their health information technology (health IT) infrastructure and exchange capabilities to demonstrate the vision of meaningful health IT.
- Curriculum Development Centers. Due Jan 14, 2010. This funding opportunity, one component of the workforce program, will provide $10 million in grants to institutions of higher education (or consortia thereof) to support health information technology (health IT) curriculum development.
- Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals. Due Jan 22, 2010. This program seeks to rapidly create health IT education and training programs at Community Colleges or expand existing programs. Community colleges funded under this initiative will establish intensive, non-degree training programs that can be completed in six months or less.
- Health Information Technology Extension Program (Regional Extension Centers). Due Nov 3, 2009, Dec 22, 2009. This program provides grants for the establishment of Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers that will offer technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs).
In Oregon, OCHIN, Inc. applied for these funds: OCHIN Letter of Intent for Regional Extension Center
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Indian Health Service (IHS)
- IHS Health Information Technology Implementation Plan. $85 million of ARRA funding will be used to modernize and extend electronic health information technology (IT) used by IHS, tribal, and urban Indian health programs to improve health care quality, reduce medical errors, and modernize administrative functions.
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