What process should states follow to request funding for health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program?

State Medicaid Director (SMD) Letter #11-004 and SMD Letter #10-016 indicate that states may request 90/10 HITECH administrative funding for HIE infrastructure under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. To request this funding, states must submit an Implementation Advance Planning Document Update (IAPD-U) using the approved template, which can be found at http://www.cms.gov/Regulationsand-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/Medicaid_HIT_IAPD_Template.pdf. In particular, the IAPD-U template Appendix D outlines all the information required for an HIE funding request. The HIE funding request may be submitted in a separate IAPD-U, or it may be included in an IAPD-U that requests other funding for the state's Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

CMS asks that states reach out early to their regional CMS HITECH contacts if they are considering submitting an IAPD-U for HIE funding. Given the complexity of an HIE request, along with the parameters set out in SMD Letter #11-004, CMS prefers to have one or more preliminary discussions to go over the state's current IAPD landscape, the state's technical model, and the state's approach to meeting the fair share and cost allocation principles.