SSA to expand electronic health record project
By Mary Mosquera
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Social Security Administration announced Friday it has $24 million available for contracts with hospital networks and health information exchanges willing to electronically share the health records of patients seeking disability benefits from the agency.
SSA posted a request for proposals Aug. 7 to expand the number of healthcare organizations that will participate in the project, which links providers electronically to SSA via local HIEs and the nationwide health information network (NHIN). Responses are due Sept. 18. Contracts, which are funded through the stimulus law, will be fixed price and last 12 months.
The RFP can be found at: https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=df343db1bf298ef9336bb8da0e723863&tab=core&_cview=0
SSA in February began electronically collecting medical data from MedVirginia, a central Virginia health information exchange that links several hospitals. SSA is linked to MedVirginia via the federal CONNECT gateway, a tool that enables agencies to access the NHIN. With the new RFP, SSA wants to build on its successes with MedVirginia.
Each year, SSA makes more than 15 million patient-authorized requests for medical information from providers who have treated them. The use of health IT will vastly improve the efficiency of this still largely paper-based process, said Michael Astrue, Social Security commissioner.
“With these competitive contracts, Social Security continues to be a leader in the use of health IT to improve service to the American public,” he said.
Using the NHIN will give providers the ability to receive a standardized electronic request for medical records along with a patient’s authorization. Providers will then be able to automatically respond to SSA requests a standardized Continuity of Care Document, the proposal request said. Providers must use a certified electronic health record application and be able to demonstrate the technical ability to create a sample Continuity of Care Document with de-identified electronic health record information.
