The Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) Selects Five Electronic Health Record Vendors as “Preferred”

The Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) has announced that it has completed the Request for Proposals process and identified five Electronic Health Record (EHR) companies as Preferred Vendors for its initiative to expand the use of EHRs in Ohio. OHIP is committed to assisting 6,000 physicians and other health care providers adopt an EHR by 2012.

The five preferred EHR Vendors are: Allscripts, eClinicalWorks, e-MDs, NextGen Healthcare, and Sage.

OHIP used a number of criteria to select its Preferred Vendors, including:

1. Sufficient functionality to meet current provider needs.
2. Proven capacity to handle the demand for services created by the OHIP program.
3. Willingness to hire and train Ohio residents as EHR implementation and training staff.
4. Commitment that all technical support will be conducted within the United States.
5. Commitment to meeting national certification and meaningful use requirements.

Providers are not required to use the five vendors in order to participate in OHIP’s program. The Preferred Vendors will work in cooperation with OHIP’s seven Regional Partners who will provide the hands-on assistance that providers may need to successfully select, implement, and launch an EHR. Providers who adopt a certified EHR and meet defined performance standards will qualify for financial incentives from Medicare or Medicaid. Plus, primary care providers will qualify for subsidized technical support from OHIP’s regional partners during the process of EHR selection, implementation, and meeting performance standards.