Connected Care - Bringing Specialty Care to Rural Coloradans

I had the distinct pleasure of presenting at the Connected Care press release today, the official launch of telemedicine services in four of our rural communities: Buena Vista Family Practice in Buena Vista, High Plains Community Health Center in Lamar, Rio Grande Hospital in Del Norte, and St. Vincent General Hospital in Leadville. Connected Care is a state of the art telemedicine program and is a partnership between UnitedHealthcare, Centura Health, Colorado Rural Health Center, Colorado Community Health Network and Colorado Telehealth Network to provide remote access to specialty care for rural patients. I also had the opportunity to see a live visit between a patient in Leadville and a physician at St. Anthony Central in Denver. I marveled at the personal feel of the visit as well as the amazing clarity of the information being relayed real-time through the digital stethoscope and odoscope. Through telemedicine programs like this, rural community members have access to specialty care locally and won't have the financial, quality of life, and health burdens that are often of having to travel over 200 miles to access care. I look forward to continuing to be a part of this innovative and exciting project and sharing the best practices with other rural communities across our state. For the news release, click here.

HIT Sessions at Annual Rural Health Conference, July 1-2, Breckenridge

It's not too late to register for CRHC's Annual Rural Health Conference, July 1-2 in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado. Learn more about the ARRA funding requirements, meaningful use requirements and other resources available for Health Information Technology as well as other informative sessions on healthcare reform, quality and patient safety, and provider recruitment and retention. Click here for more information and to register.

Loan Funds Available to Colorado Clinics

The Colorado Health Foundation has established a "Loan Fund" through a partnership with NCB Capital Impact (NCBCI) to provide short-term loans to current grantees who may be experiencing a cash flow problem due to slow receivables. The purpose of the loan is to help grantees, maintain continuity of operations, ensure the impact of previous grant investments and provide clinics with an affordable source of borrowing. Given the current state delay of Medicaid payments, you may find this resource of particular value. To read the full announcement, click here.

Consortium Webinar This Thursday! What is a Regional Extension Center and How Can They Help You?

Register today for our next Consortium webinar, June 17, 12-1:15pm MT, where we will discuss the Federal Regional Extension Center program and the resources that are available to small practices and hospitals in Colorado. The Colorado Regional Extension Center (CO-REC) is a partnership between the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization and multiple entities including Colorado Rural Health Center, ClinicNET, HealthTeamWorks (formerly Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative), Quality Health Network, Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, Colorado Community Managed Care Network, and Physician Health Partners. Through this webinar you will learn what REC resources are available to assist you with adopting meaningful use Electronic Health Records.

Pagosa Clinic Goes Live on EMR in Record 6 Weeks!

Congratulations to Pagosa Mountain Hospital for implementing a clinic Electronic Medical Records system in six weeks. As a brand new hospital-based Rural Health Clinic, Pagosa’s leadership had the vision to implement the clinic EMR before the Memorial Day holiday when their patient load increases significantly. Through the help of THE Consortium and strong internal management, the selection and implementation process were performed in record time. The clinic’s providers are currently using the system, eClinicalWorks, to make notes and do the majority of their charting. CRHC looks forward to continuing to provide assistance to Pagosa as they move towards going live on the clinic billing software August 1st.

Save the Date: Next Consortium Webinar June 17th

Save the date for our next Consortium webinar, next Thursday, June 17th, 12-1:15pm MT. Registration and call information to follow!

Will the Federal HITECH Act Improve Healthcare as Intended?

A new report released last week, authored by the Washington, D.C.-based advisory firm Manatt Health Solutions, takes a comprehensive look at whether the federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) will significantly improve the nation's health care system.

Titled "HITECH Revisited," the 36-page report suggests that HITECH could mark a big step forward in improving health care as we know it -- especially in light of the recently enacted health care reform legislation. But the report also asks many questions about the overall effectiveness of the program, such as: Are HITECH's policies likely to create a health care system that is appropriately networked and focused on coordination of care? Is HITECH designed to encourage significant adoption of electronic health records? Will the policies being implemented improve clinical decision-making at the point of care?

Funded by the Colorado Health Foundation in partnership with the California HealthCare Foundation and the United Hospital Fund, the report is the result of interviews with 24 leading health information technology experts who provided candid assessments of the progress made under HITECH, the challenges that lie ahead and what specific actions Congress and the Obama administration need to take to achieve HITECH's ambitious goal of jump-starting the adoption of health IT.

A brief summary of the report also is available.