Research and Projects: AHRQ THQIT and SRD Portfolio

Indiana

Improving Health Care through HIT in Morgan County, IN

Description:  Creates a secure infrastructure for communication among providers to allow electronic sharing of patient clinical information with hospitals and other physicians/health providers in the county, region, and State; also assesses the effectiveness of the system in improving workflow, timeliness and completeness of information, patient safety, continuity of care, and health outcomes.

Abstract:  DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Morgan Hospital and Medical Center (MHMC) proposes to become the first small independent hospital in Indiana to collaborate with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) to electronically share clinical information with other hospitals and physicians/health providers in the county, region, and state. MHMC proposes thereby to extend the benefits of a sophisticated, innovative urban system (in nearby Indianapolis/Marion County) to a small rural area (Morgan Country) where the substantial movement of patients within and across county line impeded optimal health care delivery. IHIE will "wire" health care by creating a common, secure infrastructure that will enhance communication and information-sharing among providers. While respecting patient privacy, it will also allow providers to have access for treatment purposes to patient information housed in participating hospitals through a broad clinical database managed by the Regenstrief Institute on the campus of the Indiana University School of Medicine. IHIE is beginning with a clinical messaging system that will provide participating hospitals and physicians with a history of radiology reports, EKG reports, ADT face sheet information, transcription and lab results with software (Docs4Docs) developed by the Regenstrief Institute. The project will be overseen by a steering committee that includes representatives from each project partner and the evaluation team. MHMC and IHIE will work with an evaluation team led by the Indiana University School of Informatics to assess the effectiveness of the collaborative HIT system in improving workflow, timeliness and completeness of information, patient safety, continuity of care, and health outcomes for patients of Morgan County.

Year 1 Funding:  $498,709

Estimated Total Funding:  $1,489,942

Principal Investigator:  Paul Clippinger

Applicant Institution:  Morgan Hospital and Medical Center

City/Town:  Martinsville, Indiana

State:  Indiana

Grant Number:  UC1 HS15258

Category:  Implementation Grants (THQIT)

Thesaurus Terms:  

automated medical record system, health care quality, patient care management, regional medical planning, rural health, health care service evaluation, health disparity, information dissemination, patient /disease registry, patient safety /medical error, rural area, urban area, health services research tag

Project Start Date:  Sep 30, 2004

Project End Date:  Sep 29, 2007