Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) Offers Assistance to Physicians to Advance Adoption and Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology

Do you have an electronic health record (EHR) system? If you do, will you be able to collect $44,000 or $63,750 from Medicare or Medicaid with your system? If you aren’t sure or need help setting up an EHR system, the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) is here to help.

OHIP, a non-profit entity supported by the AMCNO, is designated by the state to advance the adoption, implementation and “meaningful use” of Health Information Technology (HIT) among health care providers in Ohio. OHIP is partnering with seven regional centers, called REC Regional Partners to provide technical assistance helping Priority Primary Care Physicians (PPCPs) convert to electronic health records and e-prescribing.

OHIP also plans to promote greater EHR adoption by:

1. Providing physicians and other providers with access to free or low cost experienced consultants who will work with individual practices to provide assistance throughout the selection, adoption, implementation, and use of an EHR. OHIP will work through seven Regional Partners who have a wide range of EHR expertise to make the EHR adoption process easier and quicker.

2. Vetting EHR vendors to identify those that are best able to meet practice needs and negotiating discounts with those vendors.

3. Helping providers meet “meaningful use” standards. Meeting these standards, which were recently defined by the Office of the National Coordinator, is necessary in order to qualify for financial incentives through Medicare and Medicaid.

In addition, OHIP will be identifying sources of low interest loans for providers who wish to purchase an EHR. The goal of OHIP is to help 6,000 PPCPs convert to EHR and “meaningful use” of health records over the next two years. There is $26.8 million available for assessment, technical assistance, and helping you qualify for incentive Medicare and Medicaid payments.

REC assistance includes ensuring PPCPs are certified for “meaningful use” of electronic records and therefore qualified to receive up to $44,000 per provider in Medicare incentive payments or up to $63,750 per provider in Medicaid incentive payments over a period of 6 years.

Are you eligible? How do you qualify? What are the timelines and deadlines? How do you register? For answers to these questions and the specifics about the program go to www.ohiponline.org  or email info@ohiponline.org  or contact one of the regional extension centers in the Northern Ohio region listed below:

OHIP REGIONAL CONTACTS IN NORTHERN OHIO:

Case Western Reserve University, Joseph Peter, joseph.peter@case.edu

216-368-5756 (For counties: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, and Lorain)

Akron Regional Health Foundation, Marianne Lorini, mlorini@arha.org

330-873-1500 (For counties: Ashland, Carroll, Harrison, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, and Wayne.)