A Program Of The Georgia Department Of Community Health 
A SNAPSHOT OF THE 
Georgia Health Information Exchange Pilot Program 
 
Overview 
 
In 2006, the Health Information Technology and Transparency (HITT) Advisory Board and the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) launched the Georgia Health Information Exchange (HIE) Pilot Program, which awards matching grants to foster the development of HIE, electronic prescribing and the adoption of electronic medical records across the state. 
 
Year One Grants 
 
In November 2007, DCH awarded $853,088 in matching grants to four health care organizations that demonstrated the ability through their proposal to improve both health care services and public health. 
 
The Georgia HIE grantees aimed to improve access to comprehensive patient health information created by multiple providers and to decrease prescription errors linked to illegible handwriting or insufficient information. The awardees matched the funds given to them by the state. 
 
Year Two Awards 
 
HITT launched a second round of HIE grant awards, and in November 2008 awards were made 
 
totaling $750,000 to three organizations. 
 
(See chart at right). 
 
Grantee 
 
Award 
 
Grant 
 
Project 
 
Two of the grantees who received awards both years, Chatham and Washington Counties, will expand on their first-year projects by implementing electronic medical records and sharing information among hospitals, public health clinics and primary health care physicians in their geographic areas. 
 
Chatham County Safety Net Planning 
Council Inc. 
St. Joseph of East Georgia 
 
$202,000 $250,000 
 
Implementation of an electronic medical record and 
e-prescribing solution 
Implementation of an electronic medical record and 
e-prescribing solution 
 
Best practices, accomplishments and lessons learned from the pilot programs will be used to further the strategic efforts of Georgia for 
 
Washington County Regional Medical 
 
$250,000 
 
Implementation of an electronic medical record and 
e-prescribing solution 
 
statewide HIE. 
 
2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga 30303 www.dch.georgia.gov 
 
January 2009