(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 29, 2017)  — Purdue Healthcare Advisors, a division of the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue University, will continue to guide eligible Indiana health-care providers toward Meaningful Use with an additional $3.6M federal matching grant awarded to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and Purdue University. 

Funded by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the 90/10 matching grant awarded by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allows the FSSA and Purdue Healthcare Advisors (PHA) to continue the Medicaid Meaningful Use Assistance Program, or MU Help Desk. The program helps Indiana ambulatory organizations (small groups and independent practices) successfully attest to the stages of MU so they can receive CMS incentive payments designed to offset associated health IT costs. 

PHA has helped thousands of Indiana providers meet federal MU standards since 2010, when Purdue received $14M in direct HITECH funding from CMS to guide eligible providers through MU Stages 1 and 2. In October 2014, Purdue received an additional $2.3M in HITECH funding through the FSSA to create the Medicaid Meaningful Use Assistance Program for the state’s Medicaid-eligible providers. 

“In the last seven years, PHA has assisted more than 6,000 Indiana providers with Meaningful Use and, in doing so, helped bring over $200 million of incentives into Indiana,” said PHA Director Randy Hountz. “We’re proud of our role in building the HIT infrastructure in Indiana, especially for the small and underserved providers.” 

PHA’s assistance involves a combination of remote and on-site services to help providers progress through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs’ three stages. In their first year of participation, providers can adopt, implement, and upgrade their electronic health records (EHR) system, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. In their second year of participation and subsequent participation years, providers must show they are using their EHRs in a meaningful way by meeting thresholds for a number of objectives. The later stages focus on the advanced use of EHR technology to promote health information exchange and improved outcomes for patients.

MU Program Year 2016 was the last year for providers to adopt, implement or upgrade their EHR for $21,250 in incentives. They have until May 1, 2017, to attest through the Medical Assistance Provider Incentive Repository (MAPIR) system. To ascertain eligibility or enroll in the Medicaid Meaningful Use Assistance Program, contact the MU Help Desk at INMedicaidMUHelp@pha.purdue.edu or by phone at 844-PHA-INMU (toll free). 

About Purdue Healthcare Advisors

Purdue Healthcare Advisors (PHA) is a not-for-profit outreach initiative for the health-care industry. PHA is part of the Purdue University-based Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering (RCHE), which serves as a national nucleus for driving high-impact improvement in healthcare delivery by mobilizing the intellectual strengths of Purdue faculty and partners. Created in 2005 by a partnership among Purdue University, RCHE, and the Indiana Hospital Association, PHA serves the training, project facilitation and assessment needs of thousands of independent practices as well as hundreds of hospitals/healthcare systems striving to increase cost savings as they better the patient-care environment. 

ABOUT THE FSSA

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) is a health care and social service funding agency  established by the Indiana General Assembly in 1991 to consolidate and better integrate the delivery of human services by State government. Ninety-four percent (94%) of the agency's total budget is paid to thousands of service providers ranging from major medical centers to a physical therapist working with a child or adult with a developmental disability. The five FSSA care divisions administer services to more than one million Hoosiers. 

Sources:

Randy Hountz, Director, Purdue Healthcare Advisors, (765) 494-0766; rhountz@purdue.edu

Natalie Stewart, Senior Advisor-Quality Services, Purdue Healthcare Advisors, (765) 496-1265; nmstewart@purdue.edu;

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