Health Information Exchange Onboarding Program

Program Announcement

Missouri received funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop and implement a Health Information Exchange (HIE) Onboarding Program. The program provides funding to cover some of the costs for healthcare service providers to participate in the health information exchange.

Program Update

The HIE Onboarding Program closed in September 2021.

Under the HIN Services Contract with Missouri’s four HINs (see links below), MO HealthNet provided health information exchange onboarding assistance to 88 Medicaid providers.

Participating providers included hospitals, clinics, health systems, long-term care facilities, and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) providers.

MO HealthNet required streamlined, interoperable interfaces for participating organizations. As a result, the 88 Medicaid providers onboarded to the HIN of their choice included sites at 546 individual locations.

Program Details

Please read the Missouri Health Information Exchange Onboarding Program Announcement for specific information, including which providers and hospitals qualify for the program, what services are and are not covered, and expectations of program participants.

In late 2020, the HIE Onboarding Program eligibility criteria were expanded. The program was previously open only to healthcare providers and hospitals that participated in the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (also known as the Promoting Interoperability Program). To make the most of this opportunity, any Medicaid provider that can meet technical requirements needed to participate in the program is now eligible.

The Health Information Exchange Onboarding Program Matrix outlines the deliverables and measures each Health Information Network (HIN) will be required to meet in order to receive full assistance for each entity onboarded.

Links to Missouri’s four HINs are included below; your selected HIN can also assist with specifics about the program. The HIN will ask you to complete a Letter of Intent based on this template. For assistance with completing the Letter of Intent, please refer to the Letter of Intent Guide.

Technical Specifications

Admit, Discharge, Transfer (ADT) message specifications recommended by MO HealthNet for the HIE Onboarding Program are available at Recommended ADT Specifications.

Support for the HIE Onboarding Program

Missouri’s leaders support the HIE Onboarding Program and its goal for Missouri’s four Health Information Networks to onboard at least 40 hospitals and 1,000 providers.

A recent Press Release included a quote from Missouri’s Medicaid Director, Todd Richardson, who says “Improved health information exchange provides state agencies and their partners with timely information to coordinate patient care and build cost-effective programs like value-based payment models.”

Governor Mike Parson also commented on the project, stating, “Investing in new technology to advance an industry and improve the lives of Missourians is critical. We have made tremendous strides to modernize access and exchange of patient health information, and we’re excited to see this final push to complete the transition. This will help Missouri earn the greatest return on investment in terms of better health for Missourians and also improve the Medicaid program’s speed, efficiency, and cost-savings.”

If you have questions, please e-mail MHD.EHRINCENTIVES@dss.mo.gov.

Missouri’s Health Information Networks

Federal Interoperability Rule