Iowa the first to receive Medicaid health IT planning grants

The Iowa Medicaid program is the first in the country to receive federal matching funds to help plan implementation of electronic health records under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The state will use the $1.16 million grant--a 90 percent federal match--to study existing barriers to EHR adoption and provider eligibility for federal health IT incentive payments, as well as to develop a statewide Medicaid health IT plan and determine the need for consumer-controlled personal health records, CMS says.

"Meaningful and interoperable use of EHRs in Medicaid will increase healthcare efficiency, reduce medical errors and improve quality-outcomes and patient satisfaction within and across the states," Cindy Mann, director of the CMS Center for Medicaid and State Operations, says in a written statement. Mann also says that the agency has received similar grant applications from other states and will be announcing further awards in the near future.

For further details:
- see the CMS press release

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