ONC lauds Ohio, Kentucky and Maine for health IT usage

Ohio, Kentucky and Maine were recognized during the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT's (ONC) annual meeting on Dec. 12 as the states using health IT in ways that will make a meaningful difference in healthcare for patients.

In Ohio, nearly half of the providers in the Cincinnati Beacon Community program have achieved Meaningful Use (MU). In Maine, 83 percent of the patient population is electronically sharing healthcare information with their providers, facilitated by the statewide health information exchange, HealthInfoNet.

ONC recently launched its State MU challenge, an effort focused on encouraging states to work with stakeholders and other health IT partners implement EHRs in a meaningful way, to support the triple aim objectives: better health, better care and lower costs.

Supported by HealthInfoNet, the Regional Extension Center (REC) and the statewide HIE, clinicians across Maine, including those in the Bangor Beacon Community, share important patient information in order to drive private, secure and effective care coordination across the community and the state.

Today, roughly 1.1 million individuals have records in the statewide HIE. Thirty of Maine’s 39 hospitals, and more than 300 ambulatory sites are now connected. As of Dec. 1, the Maine REC—serving 1,000 providers—has helped 892 providers go live on a certified EHR and more than 300 achieve Meaningful Use attestation. In the Bangor Beacon Community, providers continue to collect, share and analyze information with the focus of improving the health of people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Preliminary results from the Bangor Beacon show reductions in emergency department visits by 43 percent over 12 months, non-urgent care visits have been reduced by 75 percent over 12 months, and hospitalizations have decreased 42 percent over 12 months.

Ohio has modernized the state's Medicaid program as onwell as performance improvement programs, such as the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative and Beacon Communities (CPCi) projects, through the use of health IT. With more than 1,200 providers participating in Ohio’s Regional Extension Center programs, also engaged with the CPCi or Beacon Community programs, more than 40 percent of participating Beacon and CPCi providers have achieved MU.

Ohio has successfully paid more than 6,700 eligible providers, and more than half of eligible hospitals for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, for more than $126 million in incentive payments.

“Ohio demonstrates how the coordination of federal regional extension center, health information exchange and Beacon Community grants--as well as the cooperation of Ohio’s governmental agencies--are creating an environment where Meaningful Use and building interoperability will make a huge impact on the quality of healthcare,” said National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM. "Ultimately, leading states will show how we can use health IT to provide better healthcare, improved patient health outcomes and lower healthcare costs across the nation."

Ohio Medicaid now ranks fifth in the nation for the number of payments distributed, including more than 3,346 eligible professionals and 135 hospitals for a total of $159 million in disbursements.

Kentucky has been particularly successful with MU and rural healthcare providers. To date, providers and hospitals have received $115 million in incentive payments for Meaningful Use, and the ONC-funded REC and HIE programs interface with nearly 95 percent of critical-access hospitals in Kentucky. Their innovative programs to support rural providers have helped Kentucky become a leader in the number of eligible professionals in rural areas who have received a payment under the Medicare or Medicaid program.

Mostashari hand-showered representatives from the states with shredded paper confetti which Office of Civil Rights Director Leon Rodriguez later joked was certified as not containing any protected health information.