Medicaid and CHIP agencies are presented with unique opportunities to impact health care delivery through Health Information Technology (Health IT) and Health Information Exchange (HIE). Medicaid agencies serve as the largest health care purchasers for Americans and along with CHIP provide insurance for over 25% of the nation's children.
Theses agencies are also confronted with unique roadblocks to participating in Health IT/HIE and thus achieving the types of cost, efficiency and quality improvements that participation in Health IT/HIE can offer. Although some of these roadblocks are encountered with any large scale Health IT/HIE adoption effort, such as securing financial resources, legal and regulatory questions, and demonstrating effectiveness, the way these issues are addressed needs to be tailored to meet the unique needs of the Medicaid/CHIP system.
The tools provided as part of this repository are intended to provide this type of specific guidance. The repository has grow over time to include the most relevant information available to staff within the agencies leading this transformation. It includes the following resources:
Literature Search | Bibliography | Case Studies | Highlights
Each of these resources is described in detail below.
Medicaid and CHIP Literature Search
The Medicaid and CHIP Literature search tool allows users to search by keyword within a wide range of content on Health IT and HIE issues directly related to Medicaid and CHIP agencies. This tool is primarily for those that have a strong general idea of the information they are looking for and would like to search all resources in the library to find relevant resources.
Search the Health IT area if you are looking for information about planning or implementing a Health IT project within your agency. To narrow your search, choose any of the following sub topic areas under Health IT:
- Technology - includes resources related to Clinical Decision Support, Electronic Health Records, Health Information Exchange, and Data Standards
- Policy - includes resources related to Patient Consent, Provider Adoption, and Privacy and Security
- Evaluation - includes resources related to Research, Study Design, and Value of Health IT
Search the Health Information Exchange area if you are looking for information about tips and processes for engaging with other organizations within your state and/or region to exchange clinical data.
Using the Search interface, the entire collection of documents may be searched, or resources specific to any of these three areas may be searched by using the drop down menu.
Medicaid and CHIP Literature Search
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Medicaid and CHIP Bibliography
The Medicaid and CHIP Bibliography is a collection of carefully selected, high quality resources within a pre-selected group of major topic areas related to health IT or HIE. This tool is primarily for Medicaid and CHIP stakeholders looking for a small number of hand-picked documents that will outline the basic issues within a given topic.
For each category, users will find a mixture of both peer-reviewed articles from professional journals and Web-based resources from highly respected health care and IT organizations. Summaries of each item are provided in addition to a link for users to access the full resource. Where possible, attempts have been made to select resources that are freely available in the public domain. However, some of the articles may require individual or institutional membership to access the document. This resource is designed to be dynamic and provide specific information to the Medicaid and CHIP community to include new knowledge, resources, and technologies relevant to Health IT and HIE.
- Overview - General overview materials provide basic information about the emerging relationship between health IT/HIE and Medicaid and CHIP agencies.
- Health IT: Policy
- Health IT: Technology
- Health IT: Evaluation
- Health Information Exchange
Medicaid and CHIP Case Studies
The most effective lessons learned often come from agencies that are in the process of implementing cutting edge programs. The case studies provided in this section provide a vision for the brighter outcomes for beneficiaries through Health IT and health information exchange. If you have a story to share, please contact the project at Medicaid-SCHIP-HIT@ahrq.hhs.gov.
- New! Oklahoma: Developing a State Medicaid Health IT Plan (SMHP): Lessons Learned From Oklahoma Medicaid (PDF, 94 KB)
- Minnesota: Leveraging Existing Leadership to Support Health IT and HIE (PDF, 216 KB)
- New York: Developing an Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program (PDF, 97 KB)
- Florida: Developing a Universal Consent Form: Lessons Learned from Florida Medicaid (PDF, 188 KB)
- Alabama: Collaborating to Improve the Quality of Care: Lessons Learned from the Alabama Medicaid Agency (PDF, 206 KB)
- Georgia: Health Information Exchange: Revolutionizing the Healthcare System
Highlights
Online applications for Medicaid and/or CHIP: An Overview of Current Capabilities and Opportunities for Improvement
Released by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, this analysis provides an overview of current online applications for Medicaid and/or CHIP and examines the extent to which they incorporate features that streamline and simplify the enrollment process for individuals. To access the Issue Paper, click here (PDF, 850 KB).
Technical Assistance Brief: Supporting "Meaningful Use" of HIT in Small, High-Volume Medicaid Practices
Released by the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc in July 2010, this technical assistance brief provides an overview of the opportunities for Medicaid agencies to help small practices in implementing EHR incentive programs. To access the brief, click here (PDF, 117 KB).
CONNECT 3.0 Released
The Federal Health Architecture is making software available as a first step to help public and private health information technology systems communicate with each other and to the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). The Federal Health Architecture is making this free software, called CONNECT, and supporting documentation available at http://www.connectopensource.org/. Visit the site to learn more about how this software can enable exchange for Medicaid and other state-level agencies.
Preparing to Implement HITECH: A State Guide for Electronic Health Information Exchange
As the national dialogue on health care reform continues, health information technology (IT) and health information exchange (HIE) have emerged as critical means to ensuring a health care system that is affordable, effective, safe and transparent. A new report from the State Alliance for e-Health, Preparing to Implement HITECH: A State Guide for Electronic Health Information Exchange (PDF, 753 KB) aims to help states lead the way in using health IT and HIE and guide them as they begin instituting the federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.