Attachment G1_Contractor cover letter for needs assessment_final

[insert date]

[insert recipient address]

Dear [insert recipient name],

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is conducting a new project aimed at providing technical assistance (TA) to state Medicaid and SCHIP agencies to assist the agencies with planned or existing Health IT and Health Information Exchange initiatives.

This will be a 3-year project during which AHRQ and its contractor, RTI International, will be developing a program of TA that will include both broad-based assistance and targeted multi-state assistance.

To ensure that the program is comprehensive and addresses the most critical needs of Medicaid and SCHIP agencies, we will be conducting a needs assessment at the outset of the project. This will involve structured interviews with representatives from all Medicaid and SCHIP agencies, either in-person or by telephone, beginning in mid-2008.

In order to provide you with a more comprehensive introduction to the project, several materials are enclosed:

• A fact sheet summarizing the first phase of the project and plans for the development of new Health IT resources

• A list of resources that may be helpful in your current Health IT and Health Information Exchange efforts

• A copy of the document that will guide the needs assessment interview.

You will receive a phone call from a member of our team in the next couple of days to discuss the project with you. We look forward to speaking with you. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to call contact our team, either by phone [insert number] or email [Medicaid-SCHIP-HIT@ahrq.hhs.gov].

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Best regards,

Linda Dimitropoulos

RTI International