Bookmark & ShareFor Immediate Release: 02/12/2010
Contact: Heather Masters 360-923-2937
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) today announces receipt of a stimulus grant from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). The $11.3 million award comes from the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). It engages states, or state designated entities, in a State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program to develop and advance sharing of secure health information throughout the state health care system.
The HCA will use these funds to support planning and implementation of a common, shared health information technology infrastructure in Washington State. Secure health information exchange (HIE) will help providers improve clinical care and services. It may also prevent duplicate procedures and eliminate prescription mistakes.
Governor Chris Gregoire designated the HCA as the lead agency for statewide health information infrastructure planning and implementation. In this role, the HCA coordinates the necessary governance, policies, technical services, business operations, and financing for the HIE over a four-year performance period.
“This funding will not only improve health care for thousands of Washington residents, the creation of this HIE will result in new professional-level jobs in both health care and technology,” said Governor Gregoire.
The next steps for the HCA are to continue to work with OneHealthPort, the lead organization for HIE activities, to complete the statewide HIE strategic and operational plans and get approval from the ONC to implement those plans.
The HIE funds are only available for four years and there are state matching requirements that increase each year, beginning in 2011.
For more information, please visit the HCA website, or subscribe to the electronic mailing list for timely updates.
###
Reference:
February 12, 2010, HHS press release
