Q.    Who is WHITEC?
A.    The Wisconsin Health Information Technology Extension Center (WHITEC) is a collaboration of six organizations, including the Wisconsin Medical Society,  the Wisconsin Hospital Association, the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association, the state of Wisconsin, Department of Health Services, and MetaStar, which have submitted a proposal for a Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center in Wisconsin.  The goal of WHITEC, which will exist as a division of MetaStar, is to ensure that all primary care providers in Wisconsin are able to attain meaningful use of electronic health records and improve health care quality and efficiency in their practices.

Q.   What are the Health Information Technology (HIT) Regional Extension Centers?
A.   The HIT Regional Extension Centers were established as part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act (Title IV in Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)) authorizing financial incentives to Medicare and Medicaid providers’ who achieve meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. 

The purpose of the HIT Regional Extension Centers is to provide education, outreach, and technical assistance to priority primary care providers in their region to assist them in selecting, successfully implementing and achieving meaningful of use of certified EHR products. 

Q.   Who are priority primary-care providers?
A.   As defined by the HITECH Act, priority primary care providers are physicians and/or other health care professionals with prescribing privileges in the following settings:

• Small group practices (10 or less providers)
• Ambulatory clinics connected with a public or Critical Access Hospital
• Community health centers and rural health clinics
• Other ambulatory settings that predominantly serve uninsured, underinsured, and medically underserved populations

Q.   Will providers that are not considered priority primary care by able to utilize WHITEC services?
A.   WHITEC is committed to meeting the needs of all providers in the state of Wisconsin who wish to achieve meaningful use with their EHRs.  While government subsidies are being prioritized for the priority primary care providers, WHITEC will have opportunities for other providers to access the information and resources of the center. 

Q.   How will WHITEC assist providers in achieving meaningful use?
A.   General and technical assistance will be provided to all participating practices.  A customized roadmap will be developed for each participant based on the results of a readiness assessment that will be completed at the early stages of participation.  Participants will receive tailored assistance based on the following categories:

• Tier A: Achieving Meaningful Use
• Tier B: Adopting Electronic Health Records

Services will include education and resources, regional workshops, monthly best practice sharing calls, onsite assistance, a virtual technical assistance helpdesk, and a comprehensive participant toolkit. 

Q.  When will WHITEC services begin?
A.  The proposal was submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator in November 2009.  The first funding opportunity and notification of accepted proposals occurs in December.  Official HIT Regional Center services will not begin until early 2010. 

Q.  What are the Medicare and Medicaid incentives that are available?
A.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus package includes financial incentives for health care providers that achieve meaningful use with an EHR.  A maximum of $44,000 per provider is available for Medicare incentives and a maximum of $63,750 per provider for Medicaid.  Please see the Meaningful Use Incentives Fact Sheet for more information.

Q.  Who is eligible for the incentives?
A.  Beginning in 2011,  providers who meet the following criteria to be eligible for the incentives:

• Use a certified EHR to achieve meaningful use;
• Exchange health information to improve the quality of care; and
• Report on quality measures. 

Beginning in 2015 penalties will occur for not meeting the above criteria. 

Q.  What is meaningful use?
A.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide eligible professionals and hospitals with financial incentives for successfully becoming “meaningful users” of certified EHR technology.  The meaningful use proposed rule is expected in late 2009 followed by a comment period.  The final rule is expected in early 2010. The national HIT policy committee’s final meaningful use recommendations can be found at "Meaningful Use: A Definition" or at Health IT Policy Recommendations.

Q.  How do I sign-up to receive assistance from WHITEC?
A.  An Intent to Participate form can be found at www.whitec.org or by clicking here.  Complete the required information on the form and FAX it to:

 Penny Osmon at (608) 283-5424

Q. Who can I contact with additional questions?
A.  Questions can be directed to Jesi Wang at (608) 274-1940 or jwang@metastar.com