Long-term care providers, behavioral health providers and substance abuse treatment programs, among others, will soon be eligible to receive federal funding for connecting with health information exchanges.
In a CMS blog post, CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt and National Coordinator and Acting Assistant Secretary for Health Karen DeSalvo, MD, outlined the agency's new initiative that seeks to improve connectivity and modernize the Medicaid programs.
Under the new initiative, states can request 90 percent enhanced matching funds from CMS to connect to HIEs.
"The free flow of information is hampered when not all doctors, facilities or other practice areas are able to make a complete circuit," according to the post. "Adding long-term care providers, behavioral health providers and substance abuse treatment providers, for example, to statewide HIE systems will enable seamless sharing of a patient's health information between doctors or other clinicians when it's needed."
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