Page 49 - 2012-may-jun

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49
MAY / JUNE 2012
  Healthcare Journal of BATON ROUGE
state & local healthcare news
Healthcare
Briefs
STATE
Foundation Awards Nursing
Coalition Challenge Grant
AARP Louisiana and the Louisiana Center for
Nursing announced that The Rapides Foun-
dation has awarded a one-year $150,000
challenge grant to the Future of Nursing in
Louisiana: Campaign for Action, incentivizing
healthcare providers, businesses, and phil-
anthropic organizations to match the chal-
lenge grant dollar for dollar and support the
campaign’s work to improve healthcare in
Louisiana.
The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action
in Louisiana is led by a broad, diverse group of
key stakeholders who are committed to pro-
viding leadership to advance high quality, pa-
tient-centered care in Louisiana by effectively
implementing the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM)
recommendations on the Future of Nursing.
Lane Named Public Health
Assistant Secretary
J.T. Lane has been appointed Assistant Sec-
retary for the Louisiana Department of Health
and Hospitals (DHH) Office of Public Health.
Lane has served as Interim Assistant Secre-
tary for the Office of Public Health since Oc-
tober 2011. He was previously DHH Chief of
Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff. Prior to join-
ing the Department of Health and Hospitals in
2008, Lane served in public advocacy, edu-
cation, and management roles with the Loui-
siana Family Recovery Corps, which oversaw
social services and supports restoration in
South Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, and with LSU’s Office of Research and
Economic Development.
Lane has also served as a consultant and
in full-time business development roles for a
variety of organizations, including Fortune
500s, internet technology start-ups, nonprof-
its and government organizations across the
country, and he is a graduate of Louisiana
State University. His appointment is effective
immediately.
Louisiana First to Issue
Meaningful Use Payment
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medic-
aid Services confirmed that the Louisiana De-
partment of Health and Hospitals made the
first Meaningful Use payment in the nation for
the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incen-
tive Program. Through the Louisiana Medic-
aid EHR Incentive Program, which began Jan.
3, 2011, eligible Medicaid providers or hospi-
tals can receive payments for demonstrat-
ing they have adopted, implemented or up-
graded EHR in their practices. As of March
30, 2012, 74 hospitals and 1,030 medical pro-
fessionals statewide have received a total of
$105.9 million in federal financial incentive
payments, ranking Louisiana first in the na-
tion for Medicaid EHR incentive payments per
capita and third overall.
Winn Community Health Center, which
was the first federally qualified health center
(FQHC) in the nation to receive an incentive
payment during the first phase of EHR Incen-
tive Program implementation, was also the
first recipient of the Meaningful Use incentive.
The Louisiana Primary Care Association
(LPCA), the statewide trade Association of
the FQHCs, has partnered with the Louisi-
ana Health Care Quality Forum Regional Ex-
tension Center to help its members enroll in
the program and achieve meaningful use. The
Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum admin-
isters the regional extension center (REC)