Research and Projects: AHRQ THQIT and SRD Portfolio

Idaho

Rural Connection: Strengthening Care Through Technology

Description:  Explores health IT as a method of sharing patient information and develops an electronic health record for patients who utilize rural, urban, acute, and rehabilitation facilities.

Abstract:  DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): The Idaho Rural Connection (RC) is a partnership among nine independently governed hospitals and a university. Six of the hospitals are rural and are designated as Critical Access Hospitals. The RC focuses on patients as they move back and forth between rural and urban and acute and rehabilitation facilities. Health outcomes are improved through voluntary adoption of standards of care and a rigorous performance improvement process. RC is hampered in furthering its mission in two critical ways: The inability to easily share information for performance improvement; and The inability to rapidly exchange patient information. RC members recognize health information technology (HIT) as the vehicle that can reduce the identified problems and wants to deploy HIT that will include an electronic health record (EHR). This proposed HIT Planning Project is innovative in that it involves two small, rural communities in intense community planning processes. Planning teams are representative of end-users (i.e. physicians, nurses, and pharmacists), Information Technology (IT) experts, and patients. It is expected that by undertaking planning activities in more than one community, similarities and unique differences will be identified. The resulting HIT implementation plan for RC will accommodate those similarities and differences. The RC will be then be prepared to implement electronic health data sharing in the pilot communities and finally among all RC members.

Year 1 Funding:  $179,198

Estimated Total Funding:  $179,198

Principal Investigator:  Anne Oglevie

Applicant Institution:  Weiser Memorial Hospital

City/Town:  Weiser, Idaho

State:  Idaho

Grant Number:  P20 HS14883

Category:  Planning Grants (THQIT)

Thesaurus Terms:  automated health care system, health care service planning, information dissemination, rural health, automated medical record system, community planning, computer assisted patient care, computer system design /evaluation, health care facility information system, outcomes research, behavioral /social science research tag, health services research tag, human data, patient oriented research

Project Start Date:  Sep 30, 2004

Project End Date:  Sep 29, 2005