The Alabama Medicaid Agency, a state and federal program that pays for medical and long-term care services for low-income individuals, is using information technology to transform the way it delivers care to recipients.

The 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.

Officials say the tool is a major component of the state's "Together for Quality" initiative, which aims to transform Medicaid and provide a statewide health information system. 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, and we are confident that we will achieve the same level of success in Alabama as we did in Missouri. We continue to lead other states into this area," said Christopher T. Deelsnyder, senior vice president and managing director of ACS Government Healthcare Solutions. "Our state-focused platform is nationally recognized as a successful and mature model for connecting providers and beneficiaries to the Medicaid program."

Currently, 500 Medicaid-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.

Officials say versions to be released later in 2009 will add e-prescribing capabilities, a provider message center, a referral function, e-mail, provider dashboard reporting and better management of patient-provider encounter workflow for recording and viewing patient visit records.

"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.