HP today announced a 52-month services agreement with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to create a statewide Medicaid health information exchange.

The contract, valued at $30 million, includes an electronic health history system for all Medicaid clients. It also will replace the current paper-based Medicaid identification cards with plastic magnetic stripe cards for automated eligibility verification.

Under the agreement, HP will provide web-based tools to streamline provider interaction and increase access to health information. Additionally, the updated system as well as process enhancements will aid the Commission in its efforts to improve prescription services which will provide Medicaid recipients with improved access to their health information.

Enhancements include:

Permanent ID cards: HP will replace monthly distributed individual paper Medicaid ID cards with permanent plastic cards for more than 3 million Medicaid recipients. The state expects to recover its technology investment in less than three years through this action.
Provider web portal: HP will create a solution for more than 70,000 Medicaid providers to give them access to Medicaid recipients’ health histories via a secure electronic health information exchange network. With access to this information, providers can make better-informed care decisions for Medicaid recipients, especially when seeing a patient for the first time.
E-prescribing: Providers will have access to a web-based e-prescribing tool, allowing doctors to send electronic prescriptions directly to patients’ pharmacies. This is designed to assist in minimizing medical errors, reduce prescription abuse, increase patient convenience and trim administrative costs. The new system has the ability to identify and flag certain prescriptions with dosages that may exceed safety recommendations or drugs that could react adversely with other medications prescribed to a patient.
Recipient care web portal: HP will develop a website for recipients to securely access their personal health information and check program eligibility. Recipients will be more informed and can play a more active role in managing their own health, as well as the health of their families. The system will include automated messaging capability that will provide reminders to clients about the availability of periodic services. The HP infrastructure is designed to support the Commission’s efforts to meet expected increases in Medicaid recipients in a secure, reliable and cost-effective manner.

The HP solution will emphasize a secure environment in which providers can access health histories. This strategy avoids the costly common practice of duplicating large sets of data and enables access to the most current data available. The system includes a robust roles-based security model that will enable the state to control access and privileges within the system. As protection of personal health information is mandated by state and federal regulations, the HP solution places security as one of its highest priorities.

“States need to improve health outcomes and enable better access to healthcare records,” said Susan Arthur, vice president, U.S. Healthcare, HP Enterprise Services. “With more than four decades of industry-leading experience, HP will provide the cost-effective healthcare solutions Texans need.”

The solution will be powered by InterComponentWare’s eHealth Framework, an extensible and interoperable platform technology that will enable the creation of a common patient health history across the state.

HP is helping the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in the pursuit of its Instant-On Government. In a world of continuous connectivity, the Instant-On Government embeds technology in everything it does to serve the mission of the organization and its citizens.

HP is the nation’s largest provider of Medicaid and Medicare process management services, administering $95 billion in benefits a year, and serving as fiscal agent or principal IT provider for Medicaid in 21 states. HP’s global healthcare experience spans payer, provider, government and life science communities.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com/.