Pa. eHealth Partnership announces grant funding to connect hospitals, ambulatory providers to P3N

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The P3N enables electronic health information exchange across the state through the connection of health care providers to health information organizations, and the connection of HIOs to the P3N.


The application period is open through 5 p.m. Friday, April 17.


The grant program is available to HIOs to enable the connection of hospitals and ambulatory practices participating in the Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Program, authority officials said.


The available grants include $15,000 to support HIOs in their certification and P3N onboarding activities (one award per grantee); up to $70,000 to connect each hospital to the HIO; and, $50,000 to create each ambulatory EHR interface and connect at least two ambulatory practices who use the HER.


Only a single award is permitted for any one hospital or ambulatory provider, officials said. The performance period for this grant ends Sept. 30.


The purposes of the onboarding grant are to support private-sector HIOs by helping them increase their membership and support their sustainability models; incentivize HIOs to join the P3N, a precondition for receiving funding; support rapid movement toward the critical mass of participation in eHIE that will make such participation part of a new, higher standard of care, and support various care reform efforts currently underway across the Commonwealth; and defray upfront costs for individual providers to join an HIO, thus helping to satisfy obligations under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.


Program funding was made available through a grant from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and is being administered in partnership with the Pa. Department of Human Services. Under the terms of the federal grant, CMS will provide 90 percent of the onboarding grant, with the authority providing the remaining 10 percent.


“As more HIOs join the P3N along with their connected providers, more patients will experience better coordination of their care, faster access to their clinical results, and reduced redundancy of medical tests,” said Alix Goss, executive director of the authority. “The bottom line for patients, providers, and the healthcare system will be improved patient safety and healthcare quality.”


The grant application and supporting materials are available online.