By Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

Southern states are the big winners among the 16 states and qualified state designated entities (SDEs) to share in the approximately $162 Million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) fund grants to facilitate the development of health information exchange and advance health information technology (health IT) announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HHS today (March 15, 2010).

Drawn from the $2 billion in funding set aside in ARRA to promote widespread meaningful use of health IT and use of an electronic health record, the following  health information exchange awards seek to facilitate to facilitate non-proprietary health information exchange that adheres to national standards widely perceived as critical to enabling care coordination and improving the quality and efficiency of health care.

The recipients and award amounts of the grants announced today are:

• Texas Health and Human Services Commission, $28,810,208
• Florida Agency of Health Care Administration, $20,738,582
• New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority, $11,408,594
• Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, $10,583,000
• State of Mississippi, $10,387,000
• Indiana Health Information Technology, Inc., $10,300,000
• The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, $9,313,924
• South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, $9,576,408
• Iowa Department of Public Health, $8,375,000
• State of Connecticut Department of Public Health, $7,297,930
• Nebraska Department of Administrative Services, $6,837,180
• South Dakota Department of Health, $6,081,750
• Idaho Health Data Exchange, $5,940,500
• State of North Dakota, Information Technology Department,  $5,343,733
• State of Alaska, $4,963,063

Additional information about the state HIE program may be found here.  Other information about other health IT programs funded through ARRA generally can be found at here.

For Assistance With This Opportunity Or Other Health Industry Concerns

If your organization needs advice or assistance with commenting on the AHRO proposal or to respond to other health care quality or other health care matters, consider contacting the author of this article, Curran Tomko Tarski LLP Partner Cynthia Marcotte Stamer at (214) 270-2402 or via e-mail here. 

Vice President of the North Texas Health Care Compliance Professionals Association, Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section and the former Board Compliance Chair of the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas, Ms. Stamer has more than 22 years experience advising health industry clients about these and other matters.    A popular lecturer and widely published author on health industry matters, Ms. Stamer advises hospitals and other health industry clients about responding to and using these and other quality measures and other related concerns.  Ms. Stamer also publishes and speaks extensively on health and managed care industry quality, regulatory, reimbursement, and other operations, risk management and public policy concerns.  Her insights on these and other related matters appear in the Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, World At Work, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications.  For additional information about Ms. Stamer, her experience, involvements, programs or publications, see here.  

Other Recent Developments & Resources

If you found this information of interest, you also may be interested in reviewing some of the following recent Updates available online by clicking on the article title:

• AHRO Invites Comments On Project To Develop & Test Hospital Toolkit Intended To Guide Hospitals In Using AHRQ Quality Indicators  
• NLRB Orders Union Elections In 31 California Health Care Facilities To Proceed
• IRS To Allow Medical Resident FICA Refund Claims
• Stamer Speaks To Chiefs of Staff About JCAHO Physician Performance Evaluation Requirements
• HIPAA Heats Up: HITECH Act Changes Take Effect & OCR Begins Posting Names, Other Details Of Unsecured PHI Breach Reports On Website
• HHS Delays 2010 HHS Federal Poverty Rate Update To March 1, 2010
• Rising Enforcement and Changing Rules Require Prompt Review & Update of Health Plan Privacy & Data Security Policies & Procedures
• Pfizer To Pay $2.3 Billion For Fraudulent Marketing In Largest DOJ Health Care Fraud Settlement
• Maximum Penalty For Patient Protection Act Confidentiality Breaches To Rise To $11,000
• HHS Delays 2010 HHS Federal Poverty Rate Update To March 1, 2010
• OIG Special Fraud Alert Targets DME Telemarketing
• Federal HEAT & Other Federal Health Care Fraud Efforts Score More Than 15 Successes As OIG Claims $20.97 Billion Saved From Enforcement Activities In December
• HEAT Initiative Snares Health Fraud Related Guilty Pleas of Physical Therapist, Money Launderer and Patient Recruiter In Detroit
• Medicare Paid Physicians More Than $92 Million in Incentives for 2008 Under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative
• Renal Dialysis Faculties Encouraged to Review Current Protocols for Administering Erthropoiesis-Stimulating Agents
• CMS Publishes Updated FY 2010 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System Final Rule
• Retaliation For Filing HIPAA Complaint Recognized As Basis For State Retaliatory Discharge Claim
• Quest Diagnostics Inc. To Pay $688,000 In Overtime Back Wages Settlement After Misclassifying Systems Employees As Exempt
• Homecare Workers Exempt From FLSA

We hope that this information is useful to you.  If you need assistance with auditing or defending these or other health care compliance, risk management, transaction or operation concerns, please contact the author of this update, Curran Tomko Tarski LLP Health Practice Group Chair, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, at (214) 270‑2402, cstamer@cttlegal.com, Edwin J. Tomko at (214) 270-1405 or another Curran Tomko Tarski LLP Partner of your choice. Ms. Stamer has extensive experience advising clients and writes and speaks extensively on these and other health industry and other internal controls and risk management matters. 

You can review other recent health care and internal controls resources and additional information about the health industry and other experience of Ms. Stamer here.  If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile at here or e-mailing this information to cstamer@cttlegal.com.

If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile at here or e-mailing this information here.  To unsubscribe, e-mail here.

©2010 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.  All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 2:14 am and is filed under ARRA, ARRA Funding, Consumer Driven Health Care, Doctor, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, Health Care, Health Care Reform, Health IT, Health Policy, HIPAA, HITECH Act, Hospital, Meaningful Use, Physician, Public Policy, Reimbursement, Technology, Telemedicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.