HITECH Funding

HITECH Sunsets in 2021:
How to prepare for CMS Health IT Funding Transition

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) funding sunsets in September 2021, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is committed to continued support of health IT investments that benefit the Medicaid Enterprise¹.

Funding through Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS) is ongoing, and can help your state continue to sustain and develop health IT infrastructure. However, in order to transition to MMIS funding, health IT functions and services must benefit the Medicaid Enterprise and advance Medicaid Enterprise System (MES) maturity.

These three steps will prepare your state for the HITECH to MMIS funding transition:

1) Look inward: Know your state’s health IT assets and priorities.

Perform these activities to determine your state health IT needs to be funded by HITECH or MMIS:

Stakeholder Engagement and Environmental Scan: Do you know your state’s health IT assets and use cases that benefit Medicaid? Do you know the opportunities for infrastructure and health IT services that could be supported by HITECH now that won’t be eligible for MMIS funding later?

Governance: What kind of governance exists in your state?
- Does Medicaid play an active role in HIE governance? Is Medicaid informed by key stakeholders to ensure state investments align with community needs?
- Does your state employ enterprise data governance to collaboratively strategize and develop key solutions to advance MES maturity?
HIE Sustainability and Performance: How well are the HITECH-supported HIEs in your state performing? Are there areas for concern?
Health IT and MITA Crosswalk: Do you know if health IT investments and use cases advance MITA Business Processes?

2) Identify your goals and develop a way forward.

Goals come from a variety of sources – State Medicaid Agency, Governor’s office, State Plan Amendments, or Waivers. Health IT investments must support achievement of state goals in order to qualify for ongoing funding.

Enterprise-wide goals: What are the common priorities, and how could health IT be leveraged to achieve common goals?
Health IT Roadmap: Where do your state’s health IT needs align to your goals? What are your priority use cases? What necessary activities can be funded by HITECH now, and MMIS later?
Propose outcomes: How can you measure if health IT solutions achieve the desired business results for the Medicaid Enterprise?

Hands of multi-ethnic business team assembling jigsaw puzzle, top view

3) Meet with CMS.

Work with your CMS Project Officer to review your potential outcomes and cost allocation methodology before drafting your MMIS funding request. These will be unique to your state – so meeting with CMS is critical.

In order to obtain enhanced 75% federal match funds for maintenance and operations (M&O) under MMIS, functionality must be approved by CMS through “outcomes-based certification”.
Cost allocation will likely be different than what was used in HITECH.

[1] CMS has released four State Medicaid Director Letters (SMDLs) covering use of CMS funded health IT assets in Medicaid

For More Information

For more information, please reach out to a member of our team:

Jared Duzan, CFE
Principal

PH: 317.815.2925
jduzan@mslc.com

Jerry Dubberly, PharmD
Principal

PH: 404.524.9519
jdubberly@mslc.com

Kelly Gonzalez
Director

PH: 678.900.2190
kgonzalez@mslc.com

Benjamin Griscom
Manager

PH: 303.694.3605
bgriscom@mslc.com

These three steps will prepare your state for the HITECH to MMIS funding transition:

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