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 Over the last year, many new Health Information Technology (HIT) programs have been introduced and are being implemented rapidly and simultaneously in California to take advantage of up to $4B in incentive program funds available to California through the Health Information Technology Education & Community Health (HITECH) Act under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Jonah Frohlich, Deputy Secretary for HIT, California Health and Human Services (CHHS) is coordinating statewide HIT efforts and Cal eConnect, the recently formed state designated entity for health information exchange (HIE), will facilitate integration of the technologies implemented by the many efforts supported through HITECH. Cal eConnect has $39M in funding to foster statewide HIE and the California Privacy and Security Board is establishing privacy and security guidelines.
The California Telehealth Network (CTN) is also deploying a $25M secure broadband telehealth network. The California Health Information Partnership & Services Organization (CalHIPSO) and other Rural Extension Centers (RECs) are overseeing more than $46M in technical support funds to achieve meaningful Electronic Health Record (EHR) use. CalHIPSO is working statewide and its functions include establishment of Local Extension Centers (LECs) to work regionally with providers, review and certification of Service Partners to provide technical assistance with implementation of EHRs and other technologies, evaluation of EHR products and negotiation of group purchasing, implementation and service agreements with vendors. In addition, there are $5 million in workforce and training grants to support HIT deployment statewide, and more funds for workforce development are expected.
CSRHA is looking forward to a year of unusually rapid growth in advanced HIT services to benefit our California rural communities. We expect that about 10% of HITECH funds will be used to support rural communities. For example, CMS (Medicare) and Medi-Cal will oversee expected payments of nearly $200Mto rural hospitals and $100M to rural physicians and other eligible professionals. Our vision is for continued growth of CSRHA and its role in collaborative projects to facilitate implementation of advanced HIT services in underserved rural and frontier areas.
These many statewide programs will allow us to begin addressing the disparities in broadband Internet services, advanced HIT technologies, and HIT expertise that have been so detrimental to many health services and the economies of rural communities. Our Rural Technology Advisory Committee is taking a more active role in development and oversight of specific projects to facilitate direct “boots on the ground” advanced HIT implementation support for rural hospitals, clinics, providers and communities. These efforts will no longer just focus on education and information sharing. A newly funded CSRHA Rural HIT Project will assess the readiness of rural communities for EHR meaningful use adoption and provide roadmaps for HIE adoption, identifying and addressing barriers, such as broadband infrastructure, technology selection, funding, workforce, etc. UnitedHealth Group has funded this Project to assess the readiness of the 31 critical access hospitals (CAHs) in California and providers associated with them to reach meaningful use of EHRs and HIT through health information exchange (HIE). We will work closely with all other state entities to optimize rural EHR, HIT, and HIE efforts.
We will also be developing other grants and loan programs with various partners to assess the other 38 rural hospitals in California and their associated providers to facilitate their achievement of advanced HIT meaningful use through HIE. The HIE roadmaps that we develop from these projects will address all facilities involved in rural health, including public health departments, Indian Health Service facilities, DoD and VA facilities, long-term care facilities and skilled nursing facilities, mental health services and facilities, telemedicine services, local health coalitions, independent pharmacies and laboratories and correctional facilities.
We should all make an extra effort to enroll new members in CSRHA. Healthy rural communities require a broad, diverse spectrum of organizations and people working together. This should include, not just hospitals, clinics, and the traditionally thought of healthcare providers (physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers, etc.), but dentists, public health workers, community leaders, librarians, consumers and many others who have a stake in the success of rural communities.
This is a year of unusual opportunities, let’s all work together to make the most of them.
Earl W. Ferguson, M.D., Ph.D.
President, CSRHA
Executive Director, Southern Sierra Telehealth Network;
Director, Telemedicine and Rural Healthcare Development
Ridgecrest Regional Hospital
Comments or feedback? Email us at advocate@csrha.org. |
