AHRQ to look at barriers to Medicaid EHR adoption

To knock down potential barricades to EHR adoption among providers serving Medicaid populations, a new two-year federal initiative to promote access and find answers is being sought by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Overall, the project is designed to solicit "actionable recommendations on what activities can best help Medicaid providers take advantage of incentive payments, achieve meaningful use, and ultimately use health IT to improve health care for the Medicaid population," AHRQ announced Jan. 19, in the Federal Register.

Data from this proposed initiative is also being eyed to assist with meaningful use objectives being developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for Stages 2 and 3 of the EHR incentive program, it added.

AHRQ is proposing to gather the data through researcher RTI International, which will survey about 300 individual clinicians through screening questionnaires and 89 clinicians in nine focus groups.

These focus groups will contain six to 11 eligible professionals per group, including a mix of pediatricians, other physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives. Several of the groups will concentrate on community and rural health centers and private practitioners serving Medicaid populations, and one group will focus on private practice dentists.

Comments on the notice are due by March 21.

For more details:
- see AHRQ's Federal Register notice
- read the CMIO article

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