News ReleaseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, January 25, 2007 | Contact: CMS Public Affairs (202) 690-6145 |
States Get Federal Backing to Build More Efficient, High Quality Medicaid SystemsHHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today awarded $103 million to 27 states across the nation to fund implementation of new ways to improve Medicaid efficiency, economy and quality of care. States will use the funds to implement innovative systems to get more value out of the money they spend providing health care to their low-income elderly, children and disabled citizens. Congress approved a total of $150 million for these Medicaid “transformation grants” in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) to be distributed over fiscal years 2007 and 2008. Today’s award of the first $103 million will be followed later in the year with a second solicitation for the remaining $47 million. States will receive the funds over the next two years. “These transformation grants express the core goal of this administration to give states the kind of flexibility they need to deliver high quality care in an efficient and economical way,” Secretary Leavitt said. “With these grants states can streamline and modernize their systems, stabilize the exponential growth of the program and protect it into the future.” In part, the funds will support more widespread use of electronic health care records that can be accessed by whole treatment teams, a move within the medical community to improve quality of care and reduce the potential for medical errors. Permissible uses of grant funds included: - Reducing patient error rates through the implementation of technology (electronic health records, clinical decision support tools or e-prescribing programs).
- Improving rates of collection from estates of amounts owed under Medicaid.
- Reducing waste, fraud, and abuse under Medicaid, such as reducing improper payment rates.
- Increasing the utilization of generic drugs through education programs and other incentives. This reduces Medicaid expenditures for covered outpatient drugs, particularly in the categories of greatest drug utilization.
- Improving access to primary and specialty physician care for the uninsured using integrated university-based hospital and clinic systems.
- Implementation of a medication risk management program as part of a drug use review program.
The awards granted today vary in amount depending on each state’s application. Some states submitted more than one grant proposal and will receive funds for each project. No state matching funds are required for these special grants. More information on the grants and how state Medicaid agencies can apply for the next round of awards is on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Web site at: www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidTransGrants. State awards are as follows: State Name | Project Name | Total Funded | Alabama | Together for Quality - Health Information Systems | $7,587,000 | Arizona | Medicaid Health Information Exchange Utility Project | $11,749,500 | Arkansas | Electronic Verification of Proof of Citizenship | $285,513 | Connecticut | Health Information Exchange and e-Prescribing | $5,000,000 | DC | Comprehensive Medicaid Integration (Patient Data Hub) | $9,864,000 | Florida | GenRx Expansion | $1,737,861 | Hawaii | Open Vista ASP Network | $3,188,535 | Illinois | Predictive Modeling System | $4,849,200 | Indiana | Medicaid Estate Recovery Centralization and Automation Project | $124,880 | Kansas | Using Predictive Modeling Technology to Improve Preventive Healthcare in the Disabled Medicaid Population | $906,664 | Kentucky | Health Information Partnership | $4,987,583 | Maryland | Automated Fraud and Abuse Tracking | $576,228 | Massachusetts | Secure Verification of Citizenship through Automation of Vital Records | $3,950,440 | Michigan | One Source Credentialing | $5,208,759 | Michigan | Expansion of Vital Records Automation and Integration Into Medicaid | $3,929,317 | Minnesota | Communication and Accountability for Primary Care System (CAPS) | $2,843,340 | Mississippi | As One - Together for Health | $1,688,000 | Montana | Enhancing EHR - Clinical Decision Making | $1,481,152 | New Jersey | Medical Information for Children | $1,516,900 | New Mexico | e-Prescribing | $855,220 | New Mexico | Electronic Health Record Project | $712,301 | New York | Fingerprint Authentication at Point of Service | $5,500,000 | North Dakota | Web-based Electronic Pharmacy Claim Submission Interface | $75,000 | Rhode Island | IT Infrastructure Transformation | $725,253 | Tennessee | Electronic Prescription Pilot Project | $674,204 | Texas | Electronic Health Passport for Foster Care | $4,000,000 | Utah | Developing a Pharmacotherapy Risk Management System with an Electronic Surveillance Tool | $2,881,662 | West Virginia | Healthier Medicaid Members through Personal Responsibility | $1,937,110 | West Virginia | Healthier Medicaid Members through a Stronger Medicaid Program | $1,731,680 | West Virginia | Healthier Medicaid Members through Health Systems Improvement | $3,895,730 | West Virginia | Healthier Medicaid Members through Applied Technology | $1,766,280 | West Virginia | Healthier Medicaid Members through Enhanced Medication Mgmt | $4,287,110 | Wisconsin | Health Information Exchange Initiative | $3,043,272 | Total | | $103,559,694 |
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news. Last revised: January 20, 2009 |