HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield, together with the heads of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), recently co-signed a letter to encourage eligible professionals and hospitals in the safety net community to take advantage of the incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program.
The letter provides information on:
- Eligibility and participation for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
- Resource entities for health information technology support and information such as ONC’s Regional Extension Centers (REC) and HRSA’s Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCN)
- Participation with State Medicaid Agencies
- Website links to HRSA, ONC, and CMS technical assistance resources available for safety net communities to participate in the EHR Incentive Program.
As a first step towards becoming meaningful users of EHRs, HRSA grantees, especially Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), are encouraged to take advantage of the Adopt, Implement, and Upgrade option for the Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.
