La. looks to lead in EHR reimbursement

Louisiana will be one of the first states to provide incentive payments to Medicaid providers and hospitals for adopting, implementing or upgrading electronic health-record technology.

Beginning Monday, the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals will launch the Louisiana Medicaid EHR incentive program, under which eligible Medicaid physicians and other providers could receive as much as $63,750 in incentive payments over a six-year period. Eligible providers include physicians, nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, dentists and physician assistants practicing in federally qualified health centers or rural health clinics led by a physician assistant.

Louisiana Medicaid received federal funding for this program through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, Act, which established programs under Medicare and Medicaid that encourage healthcare providers to adopt and use EHR technology effectively. According to the Louisiana health department, Louisiana is one of the first four states—the others are Iowa, Oklahoma and Kentucky—to be able to issue these incentive payments to providers.

"We are committed to this because Louisiana is in a unique position to lead the nation in improving healthcare, and health information technology and electronic health records are an important pieces of that puzzle," Louisiana health department Secretary Bruce Greenstein said in a news release. "Our rural nature and experience with natural disasters reinforces how important using available technology is to improve quality of healthcare and ensure a continuity and coordination of care.”

More information is available for interested participants at the department's EHR Incentive Payment Program website.