Unaffiliated N.C. physicians join local HIE
Diana Manos, Healthcare IT News
September 7, 2011 (Wilmington, NC) - Coastal Connect Health Information Exchange (CCHIE) announced Wednesday the successful connection of 10 unaffiliated physician practices to its health information exchange.
According to CCHIE, it took “only three days” to connect the 10 practices, and in the initial phase they will be able to electronically transmit patient referrals. The next phase will include delivery of clinical results and reports to these practices from five local hospitals.
CCHIE officials said “the full, aggressive rollout” of this solution will begin in October with the goal for year one to connect 144 physician practices to the HIE. The project will be funded in part by a $1.46 million grant from the Duke Endowment.
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Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) Receives Award to Create Telehealth Resource Center
September 7, 2011 - Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) is pleased to announce a new grant award, creating the Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center. IRHA applied for federal funding in March of 2011 and received notice of the grant award on September 2, 2011.
The Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC) is a consortium of active telehealth organizations, headed by the Indiana Rural Health Association, which provides a comprehensive set of telehealth clinical and technical assistance services leveraged into products of lasting value to rural providers.
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HCC of Lafayette County Receives HIT Network Development Award
Abstract
The Health Care Coalition of Lafayette County (HCC) was formed under the Community Health Improvement Project model. Comprised of over 25 community organizations, HCC is the hub of health services advocacy and projects in the area and recognized as the most collaborative organization in the county.
The program service area of HCC consists of Lafayette, Carroll, Ray, and Saline Counties, located in West Central Missouri. All four counties are characterized as rural, with many farms, limited access to highways, and large tracts of open space.
As a nationally-recognized vertical rural healthcare Network, HCC has been integral to initiatives in Lafayette County that improve health. HCC convened a Health Information Technology workgroup that established eRx and electronic medical records—a crucial step in ensuring the quality and sustainability of the area’s health services. In 2010, HCC received a United States Department of Agriculture Distance Learning Tele-Medicine grant to implement Tele-Medicine in primary care settings. While this is significant for Tele-Medicine efforts there is no ability to add EHR components to the application.
The HCC has identified acute needs hindering the adoption of Meaningful Use of EHR’s including lack of funding, communication and interface capabilities across providers, provider fears, and multiple EHR products selected without interoperability. There is a need for the ability for multi-campus family practice clinics to see patients as “established” instead of “new” resulting in lower patient charges, decrease in duplication of testing, reduced cost of care, reduced drug seeking behavior, increased continuum of care among family practice providers and better and/or reduced emergency room care.
Through this application the HCC will leverage existing resources and collaboration to address the aforementioned issues. The HIT Network Grant will enable the Network to “hardwire health care quality and patient safety” in each of its member organizations, through the meaningful use of electronic health records. This will ensure the greatest impact at the community level through improved patient safety, lower patient charges, reduced emergency room care and decrease in test duplication.
» For more information, contact Toniann Richard at toniann@hccnetwork.org or go to
www.hccnetwork.org
The Healthcare Coalition of Lafayette County: Job Opening
The HCC is hiring for a full time HIT Manager. Resumes with references should be sent to toniann@hccnetwork.org or laurie@hccnetwork.org before Friday, September 23rd, 2011. Resumes may also be mailed to HCC or faxed to 660.259.9019.
SUMMARY: The HIT Network Manager will be responsible for the day to day operations of the HIT Network and participating members.
Target start date is October 17, 2011. Salary range is +/-$40,000 per year plus benefits.
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Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaborative (WWRHCC) Receives Rural HIT Network Development Award
Abstract (excerpts)
The grant applicant, Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaborative (WWRHCC), is a
mature, robust network of 10 public hospital districts (all CAR hospitals) serving the rural areas
of the coastal corridor of Western Washington. Our members in total serve a combined
population of 288,000 rural residents. The rural service areas of the WWRHCC feature large
percentages of elderly (age 65+) residents, and some include large Native American and
Hispanic populations.
WWRHCC is a model Rural Health Network, in that our achievements in collaboration have
overcome variations and disparities among our unique members, allowing us to move forward.
This is particularly true with regard to HIT implementation, as our members operate a variety of
HIT systems, including disparate ERRs in varying stages of implementation or, for several
members, no ERR at all. Therefore, perhaps WWRHCC's most notable achievement to date has
been the successful development and implementation of a strong Health Information Exchange
(HIE) under one of 16 Rural CAH FLEX HIT grants awarded nationally in 2007.
With grant funding assistance, five of WWRHCC's rural members and their affiliated clinical
providers will achieve Meaningful Use. This HIT project will enable our rural members to
improve the continuity of care through improved regional communication, manage their patients
more efficiently and more effectively through the delivery of evidence-based medicine,
participate in regional population health initiatives, and in many cases allow us to head off
clinical conditions and complications that require our rural patients and families to endure the
hardship of travelling for more complex levels of care that cannot be provided locally.
This grant project qualifies for all three funding preferences:
1) Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)
2) Medically Underserved CommunitylPopulations/Area (MUCIMUPIMUA), and
3) Primary Care and Wellness.
For more information, contact Elizabeth Floersheim at efloersheim@msn.com or visit WWRHC online at www.wwrhcc.org
Nevada Rural Hospital Partners Receives HIT Grant
Nevada Rural Hospital Partners is among the NCHN members who have received a Rural Health Information Technology Network Development award through ORHP.
Nevada has fifteen small rural and frontier hospitals, nine of which we believe will not meet Meaningful Use Stage 1 without coordinated network support. These nine hospitals are located across a vast geographic area of 95,000 square miles with an average population density of only 2.95 persons per square mile, yet provide care to over 300,000 rural and frontier Nevadans. Lander County Hospital District, dba Battle Mountain General Hospital, is one of these nine facilities and will serve as the lead applicant for this grant opportunity.
These nine hospitals range in size from 4 acute care beds to a maximum of 25 acute care beds. Seven of these hospitals have long term care beds, six operate Rural Health Clinics, six hospitals receive tax support, and seven are Critical Access Hospitals. Additionally, six of the hospitals provide the only access to primary care available in their community.
All nine of these hospitals belong to a voluntary consortium of Nevada’s small hospitals: Nevada Rural Hospital Partners (NRHP). NRHP was established in 1987 through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to focus on solutions to the issues and challenges facing rural facilities. NRHP has a proud history of success, and works closely with the Nevada State Office of Rural Health. NRHP offers a wide variety of programs and services aimed at ensuring the viability of the facilities it serves by reducing costs, generating savings, enhancing quality, sharing resources, and expanding the use of technology. NRHP has effectively demonstrated its ability to meet member
» For more information, contact Holly Hansen, COO, at holly@nrhp.org
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