Cherokee Nation receives first Medicaid EHR payments

Gregory Woitte, PhD, of Cherokee Nation Health Services has received $21,250 in federal funds to help offset the costs of adopting an EHR system as part of the Oklahoma State Medicaid EHR incentive program. Cherokee Nation Health Services is the first Tribal Health Program in the nation to receive incentive payments, according to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA).

“We are unique as a state in the working relationships we have with tribal governments and this is a good example of the benefits resulting from those relationships. The programs managed by tribal governments and by OHCA and all Oklahomans who rely on them are well served by our work together,” said Mike Fogarty, CEO of OHCA, based in Oklahoma City.

The Cherokee Nation is one of 39 federally recognized tribal governments in Oklahoma, OHCA added, citing 2009 Census estimates that about 25 percent of American Indians in Oklahoma receive services from an OHCA program.

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