Coming soon: EHR readiness assessment

Washington State Health Care Authority sent this bulletin at 03/02/2021 02:17 PM PST

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Coming soon: EHR readiness assessment

The Health Care Authority (HCA) sends you this notification informing of work we are doing to explore launching a statewide electronic health records system (EHR). The level of interest expressed through responding to our survey will help inform the viability of establishing a statewide EHR.

The value to providers and their clients

Many health care provider organizations adopted EHRs in the last few years thanks to federal incentive payments. Unfortunately, many providers including behavioral health were ineligible for these incentive payments. This resulted in many providers settling on EHRs not designed to meet their needs.

HCA seeks to provide a relevant EHR solution for providers historically ineligible for federal Promoting Interoperability Program (PIP) funding.

HCA will retain a contractor for designing the EHR and its requirements. The readiness assessment (RA) contractor and EHR vendor will not be the same.

First things first

The first step is to conduct an RA to determine baseline design information such as:

What kind of effort would it take for your organization to use a state sponsored EHR?
How much time would you need to prepare?
What are your concerns about using EHRs?

Our contractor will soon reach out to you to conduct the assessment. This is where we need your help and participation.

Next steps

HCA encourages your participation and will keep you informed through every step of this process. This is what we know at this time:

HCA’s contractor performing the work is still to be determined.
Providers will be contacted by email and phone followed up by virtual townhall meetings.
The work begins around the April to May timeframe.
HCA will announce email domain the contractor will use.
Additional details will be communicated as they develop.

Questions and feedback

If at any point you have questions about this process, please contact HCA’s Health Information Technology team.

About the Health Care Authority (HCA)

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) is committed to whole-person care, integrating physical health and behavioral health services for better results and healthier residents.

HCA purchases health care for more than 2.5 million Washington residents through Apple Health (Medicaid), the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) Program, the School Employees Benefits Board (SEBB) Program, and the COFA Islander Health Care Program. As the largest health care purchaser in the state, we lead the effort to transform health care, helping ensure Washington residents have access to better health and better care at a lower cost.

Please do not reply directly to this message. For more information, visit the HCA website, where you'll also find contact information.

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Nondiscrimination

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) complies with all applicable federal and Washington state civil rights laws and is committed to providing equal access to our services. Visit HCA’s website to view complete nondiscrimination statements.