BATON ROUGE – Louisiana again moved one step forward into the world of electronic medical records.

Today, Governor Bobby Jindal signed a bill into law that will help improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs by establishing an “Electronic Health Records Loan Program” to jumpstart use of advanced health information technology systems by physicians and hospitals statewide.

The Electronic Health Records Loan Program Act - Senate Bill 246 by Senators Sherri Smith Cheek, Ben Nevers and Francis Thompson, and Representative Anthony Ligi - gives the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals authority to apply for and administer competitively awarded federal stimulus money in the form of loans to health care providers for the purchase and implementation of electronic health record systems.

Governor Jindal said, “This is another step in updating and improving Louisiana's health delivery system for all Louisianians. With electronic health records we will improve patient’s health and reduce system costs by reducing medical errors, promoting evidence-based care and increasing provider efficiency."

The Governor’s executive budget includes $5 million of matching money required for the state to apply for the federal grant. The state’s funding will be matched with $25 million of federal money should Louisiana’s grant application be successful.  The law also allows the loan program to draw on other sources of funding such as public/private partnerships with financial institutions.

DHH Secretary Alan Levine said, “We are looking forward to working with physicians and hospitals on Governor Jindal’s continuing efforts to better manage the health and well-being of our citizens. This program will help advance the use of technology in a meaningful way to provide better patient care.”

Under new federal law, physicians and hospitals that become “meaningful users” of certified electronic health records will become eligible for over $17 billion of enhanced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. For Louisiana’s physicians and hospitals to obtain the maximum reimbursement possible, it is important that they adopt and begin meaningful use of EHRs as soon as possible. In fact, the new federal law requires that providers not using EHRs by a certain date must have their reimbursements reduced.

The Electronic Health Records Loan Program Act also builds on previous state efforts to establish and integrate EHR and telemedicine technology through the Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange (LaRHIX). Last year the Governor’s budget invested $13.5 million in this network. The Electronic Health Records Loan Program Act directs DHH and the Louisiana Rural Hospital Coalition to enter into a new cooperative endeavor agreement to facilitate loans to rural hospitals and other rural health care providers who partner with rural hospitals to acquire certified EHR technology.

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