DHS Announces Hospital Incentives for WISHIN Participation
$8 Million Available in 2021 for Current and New Hospital Participants; Typically Exceed Cost of WISHIN Participation
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) this week announced the availability of $8 million in financial incentives for hospitals that currently participate in WISHIN, Wisconsin’s state-designated entity for health information exchange, as well as those that contract with WISHIN in 2021.
WISHIN’s initial analysis of the incentive criteria indicates that the incentives typically exceed the cost of WISHIN implementation and 2021 subscription fees.
The program incentivizes hospitals to contribute data in three categories:
- Admit/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) messages
- Electronic Care Summaries (CCDAs)
- Lab results, pathology results, and radiology results
Incentive payments range from $15,000 to $40,000 per category, per hospital, based on each hospital’s Medicaid claims volume (fee-for-service plus managed care).
Hospitals currently participating in WISHIN and meeting all three data-contribution criteria will receive incentive payments of $45,000 to $120,000.
Hospitals that don’t meet all of the criteria, or don’t participate in WISHIN at all, can receive the maximum incentives if they contract to contribute all incentivized data categories before December 31, 2021.
2019 Wisconsin Act 185, enacted in April 2020, established a pay-for-performance system to incentivize hospital participation in health information exchange. Act 185 required the program to begin in 2021 and required that payments should be higher to the extent that hospitals’ data contributions are greater.
Hospitals interested in receiving the incentive payments may contact WISHIN by email at wishin@wishin.org to begin the process.
