Funding Available to Help Physicians Acquire eHealth Technology
Highmark hopes to begin distributing grants by the end of summer 2008 to help physicians in central and western Pennsylvania purchase electronic prescription systems.
The grants have been in the works since 2005, when Highmark made a $26.5 million donation to The Pittsburgh Foundation to launch the Highmark eHealth Collaborative. The collaborative would have offered grants to physicians to cover up to 75 percent of the cost—up to $7,000—to acquire, install, and implement electronic systems that generate and electronically transmit a prescription to a pharmacy.
But, in order to disburse the funds, the collaborative was required to obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status through the Internal Revenue Service. The application is still under review, so Highmark decided to donate an additional $29 million directly to physicians rather than through the collaborative.
New applications are not being accepted. Although grants are limited to those who applied before the 2005 deadline, the revised grant program will assist more physicians than the original plan.
The original grant program was capped at $18 million, which was insufficient to fund all the grant applications submitted. Now, Highmark will approve all applications that meet the grant criteria.
- Grants to health systems were capped at $500,000, but Highmark will now approve grants for a percentage of health system physicians. Although the percentage has not been disclosed, some health systems will receive funding in excess of the original cap.
- More ePrescribing systems probably will qualify under the revised grant program, giving physicians more options.
Electronic prescription systems can eliminate handwriting interpretation issues and alert physicians to potential drug interactions. They also can cut costs by reducing administrative work, and they allow physicians to verify that medications are on a patient’s formulary program and are covered.
Last Updated: 6/18/2008