Research and Projects

Michigan

Critical Access Hospital Partnership HIT Implementation

Description:  Establishes a Web-based electronic medical record system for 10 small rural hospitals to connect them to the area's regional medical center. The project's ultimate goal is to quickly give all providers access to patient data, eliminate duplicate tests and exams, deliver high-quality care, reduce medical errors and track health outcomes.

Abstract:  DESCRIPTION (PROVIDED BY THE APPLICANT): During the past year, nine independent Critical Access Hospitals (CAM) located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula joined with the region's only medical center to form the Michigan Upper Peninsula Health Information Technology Network to: "Improve patient safety and quality of care through the regional planning, development, and implementation of Health Information Technologies." This project will create a web-based, portal/repository application that allows selected clinical information to be accessed by authorized physicians and other health care providers for patient care delivery and quality reporting. The information technology (IT) infrastructure connecting the participants is already in place and is used for video teleconferencing and patient education. Network HIT applications will include: (a) HIT systems at each partner hospital that capture and send patient demographic and clinical data to the regional data repository; (b) a regional HIT master patient index/unique patient identifier; (c) a regional HIT interface engine to accept and reformat incoming data from the Partner HIT systems; (d) a regional HIT clinical data repository that contains a consolidated summary of patient information; and (e) a web-based portal viewer allowing clinical information to be accessed by providers. Project goals include: (1) Establish data vocabulary and exchange requirements to ensure comparability and interoperability; (2) Install local network HIT systems in a phased manner; (3) Implement the regional HIT systems and associated support services; (4) Implement the local HIT to regional data sharing components; (5) Analyze and verify the data and technology-related aspects of the project; (6) Evaluate the impact of the HIT Network on patient care delivery; and (7) Evaluate the success of the implementation. During the Planning and Implementation Phases, the Partners will contribute $5,746,091 of in-kind staff support and HIT systems to the project. The project results will be shared with other Critical Access Hospitals and other state CAH programs.

Year 1 Funding:  $498,506

Estimated Total Funding:  $1,484,167

Principal Investigator:  Donald Wheeler

Applicant Institution:  Upper Peninsula Health Care Network

City/Town:  Marquette, Michigan

State:  Michigan

Grant Number:  UC1 HS016152-01

Category:  Implementation Grants (THQIT)

Thesaurus Terms:  

Project Start Date:  Sep 30, 2005

Project End Date:  Sep 29, 2008