Monday, April 13, 2009

$60 Million for HIT Available

New York State will fund $60 million in grants for HIT projects to use in patient-centered medical homes. Patient-centered medical homes consist of services provided by physician practices, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, long term care providers, physical therapists, and other providers with the personal physician coordinating the care using the right tools.

Funding for the grants is provided through the HEAL NY program. While this funding of $60 million is not part of the recently enacted Recovery Act, this funding will help New York providers to better compete for the recovery funding of $19 billion for health information technology when it starts to become available next year.

This new round of grants will build on the progress of the $105.75 million in grants awarded in March 2008 and the $52.9 million awarded in May 2006 to help health IT initiatives in the state. Applicants are expected to propose demonstration projects that will target patients with chronic diseases and will provide their care within a patient-centered medical home. Successful applicants will work with the regional health information organizations already recognized by the State Department of Health.

The grant applications are due on June 15, 2009. A conference to answer questions on the Request for Applications will be held at 10:00 on April 16th with questions due by May 11th. For more information on the RFA, go to www.nyhealth.gov/funding.