New Mexico Electronic Health Record Project Abstract
In 2007, 27 states received Medicaid Transformation Grants under Section 6081 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The grants were rewarded to states that proposed innovative methods which in the end of the two years are designed to produce better health outcomes at lower cost.
The Center for Health Transformation is highlighting states that have received these Medicaid Transformation Grants, and will be following their progress for the next two years. In order for key decisionmakers and industry leaders from around the country to learn from others’ successes, it is our intention to provide this resource in order to showcase innovative practices from across the nation. In the future, this site will be interactive, allowing program directors to submit updates and comments regarding their program.
Click here for the complete grant application>>
The NM Medicaid program is committed to finding innovative solutions that improve the quality of health services provided to Medicaid clients, increasing efficiencies in the delivery of services, and reducing duplicative or unnecessary health care expenditures. NM believes that implementation of an electronic health record program is one means to meeting the aforementioned goals. The NM Medicaid program thinks that its proposed project is aligned with CMS’ goal of improving Medicaid health care delivery efficiency with the added benefit of decreasing health care costs.
Leveraging the existing NM Medicaid Medical Information System (MMIS) and web portal applications, NM would implement a HIPAA Privacy Rule compliant Web Portal Medical History application designed to assist Medicaid healthcare providers with managing Medicaid clients' care. The Medical History function enables authorized providers to view service information on virtually all Medicaid claims for a recipient, paid or denied, extracted from the MMIS and loaded on the portal, as well as diagnosis and treatment information. By providing real time access to the client’s health information, the health practitioner will be able to narrow the scope of diagnosis and treatment decisions and be aware of any previously diagnosed health issues for that individual including adverse drug interactions thus improving the quality of services delivered.
The expected outcomes include: an overall reduction in diagnostic testing with an emphasis on a reduction in lab and radiology expenses associated with an emergency room or urgent care visit; reduction in prescription drug costs for individuals with drug seeking behaviors; reduction in adverse drug interactions; and efficiencies in securing accurate and timely medical history for the patient. The project would be implemented in phases reflecting the environments where absence of patient record information leads to inefficient care delivery: acute care hospitals; urgent care centers, then physicians.
The total projected two-year budget for this project is $712,301.
