Notice of Grant Award to American Academy of Family Physicians for Phase One of an Open Source EHR Pilot Project Entitled “Making the Transition From Paper to Electronics in Office-Based Medical Practices”

AGENCY:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), DHHS.

ACTION:

Notice of grant award.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has awarded a grant entitled “Open source EHR Pilot Project, Phase One: Making the Transition from Paper to Electronics in Office-Based Medical Practices” to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), 11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Leawood, KS 66211-2672, in response to an unsolicited application. The AAFP proposes that it will provide a comprehensive, low-cost, standardized, secure, and open source electronic health record (EHR) to the health care community. As a national academy, the AAFP is inherently familiar with the resources required and the necessary questions to be asked in order to make this a viable project, particularly on a national scale. The total amount of the award is $100,000 for the period June 1, 2004, through November 30, 2004. This project is an opportunity for CMS to further its objective of providing Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries with information to make better choices. It will investigate the use of Open Source EHR as a tool for improving quality of care for selected patient populations, e.g., diabetes and asthma, through routine collection of quality indicator and performance data and the delivery of evidenced-based guidelines and plans of care at the time of EHR use. This project is consistent with CMS’ goal to improve health care quality and consumer decision-making in health care. Funding of this unsolicited proposal will result in a desirable public benefit in that its aim is to provide improvements in quality and safety of care delivery.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Albert G. Deal, Office of Research, Development, and Information, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, C3-24-07, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850, (410) 786-6645, or Judy Norris, Grants Officer, Department of Health and Human Services, OOM/AGG/CMS, C2-21-15, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850, (410) 786-5130.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.779, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Research, Demonstrations and Evaluations)

Authority: Section 1110 of the Social Security Act.