MONTGOMERY, AL – The Alabama Medicaid Agency is developing an electronic health information exchange and clinical support tool to link Medicaid, state health agencies, providers and private payers.

The clinical support tool is called QTool and is based on technology developed by Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.

The initiative is being funded by a $7.6 million federal Medicaid transformation grant, part of a three-phase effort to improve patient health outcomes while reducing service duplication.

"ACS is a leading force in the area of electronic health records and health information exchange," said Christopher T. Deelsnyder, senior vice president and managing director of ACS Government Healthcare Solutions.

Five-hundred edicaid-enrolled physicians in nine counties are pilot testing the QTool, which provides claims-based data for physicians and rules-based alerts for management of asthma and diabetes patients.

"By creating this electronic health information exchange where physicians can securely access their patients' lab test results, medical claims, drug and other data, we are confident that providers will be better able to make more informed patient care decisions," said Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Carol H. Steckel. n
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