The Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) Announces Low Interest Loan Program

OHIP has announced that three Midwest banks are offering low-cost loans to physicians and other qualified healthcare professionals to cover the initial expense of using electronic health records (EHRs). Huntington Bank and Fifth Third Bank in Ohio, and U.S. Bank in Minnesota, will offer loans to physicians for the upfront money needed to create the technology infrastructure in their practices at an affordable rate. In turn, these physicians will be able to take advantage of federal stimulus money and receive incentives to repay those loans, once they follow federal guidelines in their use of these health records. Eventually, doctors and health care professionals will become part of a statewide, electronic health information exchange.

OHIP representatives have noted that it has been proven over and over again that when physicians and hospitals move from paper records to electronic ones, they improve the quality of diagnosis and care, can better coordinate medication use, and reduce duplicative or unnecessary services. Ohio has received funding to provide 6,000 primary care physicians and health care professionals with assistance in implementing or upgrading their health information systems. Plus, doctors can qualify for financial incentives through Medicare and Medicaid of up to $44,000 over the next several years.

While some physicians and hospitals already have their own EHR systems, they do not have the ability to “talk” to other physicians and hospitals outside that system and may need upgrades that follow new national standards. As the state-designated nonprofit handling both the implementation of EHRs and the creation of a health information exchange, OHIP’s goal is to enable the secure, real time sharing of patient information across the state.

OHIP established seven regional extension centers throughout the state. About 500 physicians have signed up with these partners and are receiving free services, such as an assessment of technology needs, staff training, selection of a vendor, and implementation of the EHR within the practice or hospital, and how to use health records in a meaningful way, so they can draw down Medicare or Medicaid incentives. Five preferred OHIP vendors offer affordable pricing, including Allscripts, eClinicalWorks, e-MDs, NextGen and Sage.

To find out more about OHIP, go to: www.ohiponline.org  For loan information, go to http://ohiponline.org/Pages/LoanProgram.aspx