Highmark Inc. Moves Forward With Funding for Physician Adoption of Health Information Technology

PITTSBURGH, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Highmark Inc. announced today that
it is contributing $29 million to help physicians acquire
ePrescribing/eHealth Record technology for their practices.

This initiative is an alternative to a similar program Highmark
announced in 2005 in which the company contributed significant funding to
promote the adoption of health information technology by physicians.
Highmark contributed the funds to The Pittsburgh Foundation to establish
the Highmark eHealth Collaborative, a supporting organization of the
foundation, to fund grants to physicians to acquire electronic technology
with ePrescribing and electronic health records capabilities.

In order to disburse funds to physicians, the collaborative was
required to obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue
Service. The IRS has been conducting a lengthy review of this and other
initiatives that support the adoption of health information technology by
physicians and has not yet rendered an opinion as to the tax exemption.

"Due to the delay concerning tax-exempt status for the Highmark eHealth
Collaborative, the Highmark Board of Directors decided to approve funding
to support physicians directly from Highmark instead of through the
collaborative," said Dr. Kenneth Melani, Highmark president and chief
executive officer. "Under this model, tax-exempt status is not required
before funds can be allocated. Highmark will directly provide the funds
used to help finance electronic health solutions for Highmark network
physicians in our service area. We hope to be able to begin administering
grants to physicians later this summer."

Application information from physicians seeking health information
technology funding that was sent to the Highmark eHealth Collaborative will
be provided to Highmark, and grant requests will be considered based on the
order in which they were received. The grant application process, in which
applications have been accepted during the past two-and-a-half years, is
now closed.

"Through this initiative, sufficient funding will be available to meet
the large number of requests previously received from physicians," said
Melani.

Highmark will pay up to 75 percent of the cost for a physician's office
to acquire, install and implement an electronic technology system, up to a
maximum of $7,000 per physician, with the physician's practice to pay the
remaining balance.

By eliminating handwriting interpretation and administrative work
associated with paper processing, integrated electronic technology with
ePrescribing and electronic health records capabilities can help ensure
patient safety and reduce medical errors and expenses. Such technology
systems can also indicate medications that could adversely interact with
other drugs.

Highmark considers its initiative to be a critical step toward full
utilization of electronic health records and the facilitation of health
information exchanges that will improve access to patients' medical
histories, including medications, test results and care-management
programs.

About Highmark Inc.

As one of the leading health insurers in Pennsylvania, Highmark Inc.'s
mission is to provide access to affordable, quality health care enabling
individuals to live longer, healthier lives. Highmark serves 4.6 million
people through the company's health care benefits business.

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[Via Healthcare]