Current Program

With funding from DHCF, we currently administer the HCBS Digital Health Technical Assistance Program.

HCBS Digital Health Technical Assistance Program

A Model Program for Underserved Providers

Historically, HCBS providers have not been eligible to participate in the Medicaid PI Program and similar federal and state initiatives designed to make access to technology more equitable. eHealthDC is committed to helping these providers in the District strengthen their digital health infrastructure by promoting interoperability and optimizing use of telehealth.

This first-of-its-kind program aims to provide a model for other agencies seeking to support HCBS providers and support a more integrated and accessible person-centered system.

View the latest program updates and highlights!

Through this innovative and incentivized program, 91 provider organizations receive tailored hands-on technical assistance from the eHealthDC’s team of subject matter experts and technical assistants.

By the Numbers

The eHealthDC team supports a diverse range of organizations including:

13 ASARS

Addiction and Substance Abuse Recovery Services

18 DDS

Developmental Disabilities Services

7 HSS

Housing and Supportive Services

44 MHRS

Mental Health and Rehabilitative Services

9 LTSS

Long-Term Services and Support

$3.8

Million

Distributed Incentives

Continuing to Give Back

To date, the program has distributed $3.7 million in incentives to its participating HCBS provider organizations.

The programs funding has been essential in assisting organizations with adopting, upgrading, and optimizing electronic health record systems and getting connected to the DC HIE, with the ultimate goal of enhancing patient outcomes and fostering a healthier community.

In March 2024, the Department of Healthcare Finance (DHCF) granted a six-month program extension to the eHealthDC’s team to continue providing post go-live support and HIE tools trainings.

Announcement: Addition of Milestones 7 and 8

In 2024, the eHealthDC team introduced two additional milestones, Milestones 7 and 8, and thus an opportunity for organizations to earn up to an additional $20,000 each in incentive dollars for meeting program requirements.

Milestone 7, which was introduced in January 2024, were a series of EHR and HIE trainings and learning communities focused on streamlining practice workflows, improving health information exchange (HIE) data integrity and quality, and facilitating community building amongst District providers to ultimately enable better patient outcomes. Check out Milestone 7 training presentations and resources developed by the eHealthDC team here (linked to M7).

In March 2024, the Department of Healthcare Finance (DHCF) granted a six-month program extension, prompting the eHealthDC team to develop an additional milestone, Milestone 8. Milestone 8 offered HCBS provider organizations the opportunity to receive additional HIE guidance and expertise from the eHealthDC team. During Summer 2024, Milestone 8 featured learning community sessions designed to promote optimized workflows, improve care coordination, and increase the utilization of the CRISP DC tools for participating organizations that have implemented, upgraded, or optimized their EHR and are already connected to the DC HIE (CRISP DC). The monthly topic areas for Milestone 8 included: Harmonizing Your EHR and HIE Integration to Improve Workflows and Patient Care, Enhancing Care Coordination, and Using Population Health to Advance Care Coordination.

HCBS Providers We Serve through this Initiative

Behavioral health providers

Long-term care services and support providers

Disability service providers

Housing support service providers

Find out if your HCBS organization is eligible for assistance.

Focus Areas

HCBS Promoting Interoperability

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Improving and Optimizing Telehealth

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Provider Testimonials

"We optimized our organizations’ EHR and, “the [eHealthDC team] and the [EHR vendor] made the process seamless, we didn't encounter any challenges on the provider level.” The greatest benefit of this program is the ability to “have access to clinical data through an electronic system that is not dependent on waiting for clinical staff to fax it to us”.

Prior to eHealthDC’s TA support, “we were limited to the information in the DATA Wits System. (We adopted) a new EHR system that allowed us to collect and report on client demographics and outcomes in a timely manner and we also enjoyed all of the [eHealthDC’s] team training to support our work…to develop and implement a system based on our needs.”

This program impacted our organization by empowering staff to address gaps in care, revealed gaps in care, improved workflow processes, and improved data accuracy and completeness. “The eHealthDC team is great and extremely helpful.”

“The [eHealthDC] program gave us the push to adopt an EHR when we probably would have waited without the financial incentive and I think long term it will be a net positive for the program”.

“Our primary challenge was tracking client data across multiple platforms prior to participating in this program. We now have transitioned to one EHR and appreciate having client data all in one place…The greatest benefit was the technical support provided by the [eHealthDC team]. Their team was organized, communicative, supportive and encouraging at each step in the process as we made the transition to our new EHR to comply with DBH requirements.”

“The greatest benefit [of this program] is Continuity of Care for our consumers…The Life Stride team is more informed and can better assist our consumers with instructions, follow-up appointments, and medication changes.”

“Prior to participating in the program, our organization faced several challenges accessing client data. These included difficulties in communication with regulatory bodies and limited usability of the system we were using at the time. The program team assisted us in navigating these challenges by providing support and helping us establish better communication channels with regulatory bodies. In addition they assisted us with connecting with CRISP to be able to share and access data regarding our clients.”