California HIE to use $4.9M grant to connect ambulances with hospital patient data

As first responders, emergency medical service (EMS) providers often have to make quick, life-saving decisions without any patient health information during emergencies. Using a $4.9 million state grant issued by the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), California health information exchange (HIE) Manifest MedEx is leading an initiative to facilitate better data exchange between ambulance service providers and…

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California Program to Help Fund HIE Connections for Medicaid Providers

A recent survey of providers in California’s Medicaid program found low participation rates in regional health information organizations (HIOs). Only 26 percent of all Medi-Cal providers and only 17 percent of ambulatory practices currently connect to an HIO. To address the situation, the state Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will provide incentive payments for…

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Transforming a Broken System

Health-care costs today are on a path to bankrupt our nation. Fast-rising costs are straining family budgets due to long-term stagnation of real income and prevailing fears regarding job security. Frustrated by a squeeze on costs and worried care won’t be there when they need it, Americans have unprecedented levels of anger with and distrust in…

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Blue Shield of California pushes for greater interoperability

On June 25th, Blue Shield of California with a coalition of 50 national provider organizations and health plans, sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advocating for increased sharing of electronic patient records among providers. The letter came in response to a CMS request for feedback on proposed rules related to the sharing of information, otherwise…

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