Rural Hospitals in Arkansas to Receive Funding for SHARE Connectivity
Delta Regional Authority, Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology awards to link critical access hospitals to state system
Chairman Masingill: “Arkansas’ rural communities will be better connected to cutting-edge and cost-effective health care.”
Rural communities throughout the state of Arkansas will have the opportunity to receive funding to connect their hospitals to the state’s electronic health records database, Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill and Office of Health Information Technology Director Ray Scott announced today.
The SHARE Connectivity Program will make available awards to designated Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and Small Rural Hospitals (SRHs) in eleven Delta counties as well as in seven counties with such facilities outside the Delta to help with the costs of connecting the hospitals’ electronic health record (EHR) systems with the statewide health information exchange known as SHARE (State Health Alliance for Records Exchange). The awards of up to $10,000 per facility will assist with implementation costs. Currently, EHR vendor costs of $6,000 to more than $20,000 for implementation are a barrier to some hospitals in the state.
“Providing our communities with quality health care options and supporting a healthy workforce is crucial to economic development in the Delta,” Chairman Chris Masingill said. “Because of this investment, Arkansas’s rural communities will be better connected to cutting-edge and cost-effective health care.”
CAHs and SRHs across the state have transitioned from paper records to electronic medical record systems. However, these hospitals may not be able to efficiently exchange patient information with larger hospital systems and other treating health care providers without connecting to SHARE.
“These small hospital systems are a critical part of the Arkansas health care network,” Scott said. “Having them connect to SHARE will give them access to more complete health information about their patients, and improve their ability to coordinate their patients’ care with other providers.”
The Delta Regional Authority was notified by Governor Beebe’s office that funding was needed, and the project was approved by the DRA last month. The Authority will contribute $125,300 in total investment that will support program awards directed to twelve eligible CAHs and SRHs in the Delta region, in addition to $70,000 in funds committed by the Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology to support vouchers for seven eligible hospitals located outside the Delta. The twelve eligible CAHs and SRHs serve eleven Delta counties: Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Clay, Dallas Desha, Drew, Fulton, Izard, and Randolph.
“The SHARE Connectivity Program is an important step in bringing our state’s rural hospitals to the next level of health care delivery,” Governor Mike Beebe said. “Connecting these hospitals to our state’s network of electronic health records will provide much needed coordinated health care to Arkansas families and communities.”
“Today’s announcement is great news for Arkansas hospitals and families. This critical funding will allow for better coordination among our hospitals and improved patient care,” U.S. Senator Mark Pryor said. “As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet (CTI), I’ll keep working to ensure all Arkansas hospitals and businesses have access to affordable online tools so they can operate more efficiently and save money. “
“This is an important investment in the health of rural Arkansans that will provide more opportunities to connect with health care providers and seek the care they depend on,” U.S. Senator John Boozman said. “This is a great step to containing health care costs and improving access to physicians for citizens in the Delta.”
“The demand for local access to superior healthcare far outweighs available resources in Arkansas. That’s why utilizing technology is so important in meeting this need by making patient records available electronically. Today’s announcement is a patient-centered solution that will lower costs and improve Arkansans’ access to quality health care, U.S. Representative Tim Griffin said.”
“The SHARE connectivity program is an excellent way to improve coordination across geographical lines that will improve quality of care in rural Arkansas, U.S. Representative Rick Crawford said. “This creative approach is exactly the type of innovation we need to support rural families, and I applaud the Delta Regional Authority and Office of Health Information Technology for their involvement in this issue.”
The Delta Regional Authority is a federal-state partnership that is congressionally mandated to help create jobs, build communities, and improve lives in the 252 counties and parishes of the Delta. In twelve project cycles, the Authority is helping to create and retain nearly 41,000 jobs and has leveraged $2.7 billion in other public and private investments in the Delta region.
The State Health Alliance for Records Exchange (SHARE) is Arkansas’ statewide health information exchange (HIE) that allows health care providers, related health services professionals, and public health authorities in Arkansas to access and exchange with each other real-time, secure, electronic patient information that is protected by privacy and security laws. Through its implementation and use, SHARE will reduce medical errors and duplicate testing, promote improved management of chronic diseases, and improve patient care coordination among unaffiliated health care providers.
Contacts: DRA Press Office
501-416-3789, [email protected]
Christy Williams, OHIT
501-978-3944, [email protected]
KUAR Public Radio: Rural Hospitals to Recieve Funding for SHARE Program
Welcome, New SHARE Participants!
We are pleased to welcome the following new participants to SHARE:
- Lee County Cooperative Clinics (4 sites)
- Willow Street Health
- Psychiatric Associates of Arkansas
- Greystone Medical Clinic
- East AR Family Health Center (5 sites)
- Cornerstone Clinic for Women
- Conway Children’s Clinic
These providers join a growing network of 116 hospitals, community health centers and practices that are signing up to participate in SHARE. As of August 2013, 8 hospitals, 47 CHCs, 3 behavioral health entity and 58 physician practices are using or implementing SHARE.
View a complete list of all participating health care providers >>
SHARE Publishes Article in October AMS Journal
Health care providers may question why they should partcipate in a Health Information Exchange (HIE) when they already use an EHR system that is capable of sharing patient data with other providers. But what does it actually take for that EMR/EHR system to exchange data with the myriad hospitals, specialists, labs, pharmacies, public health registries and other organizations that need it? With the average cost of an interface ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, according to the Pacific Health Journal, achieving interoperability with numerous EHR interfaces can cost providers a lot of time and money. HIEs like SHARE offer a more coordinated approach to data sharing.
SHARE explored this topic in an article published in partnership with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care in the October issue of the Arkansas Medical Society Journal. Check it out to learn about how HIEs like SHARE offer a more coordinated and potentially less expensive approach to data sharing than one-to-one EHR interfaces.
Infographic: Why Health Information Exchanges?
In the spirit of National Health IT Week, we've teamed up with Get Real Health and produced a fun infographic that shows what Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) are and why they're important to providers and patients alike.
Please help spread the word about HIEs like SHARE by tweeting, sharing and forwarding this to your colleagues, friends and anyone who may not know about HIEs.
Also, be sure to check out SHARE's guest blog for a personal take on why we need HIEs.
SHARE is a Proud Partner in National Health IT Week 2013
As a partner in the advancement of health information technology to help improve healthcare, SHARE is joining approximately 200 public and private sector organizations to participate in the 8th Annual National Health IT Week (September 16-20, 2013). National Health IT Week 2013 is the premier event offering all healthcare stakeholders an opportunity to unite under one banner, expressing the benefits that health information technology (IT) brings to U.S. healthcare. “One Voice, One Vision.”
Comprehensive health care reform is not possible without system-wide adoption of health information technology, which improves the quality of healthcare delivery, increases patient safety, decreases medical errors, and strengthens the interaction between patients and healthcare providers.
With Meaningful Use now providing the way forward, eligible providers across the country increasingly understand the benefits for themselves and their patients, and are adopting Meaningful Use compliant electronic health records.
Initiated in 2006 by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), National Health IT Week has emerged as a landmark occasion for using health IT as part of the overall solution to improve America’s healthcare as a bipartisan, federally led, market driven initiative.
The Week consists of events in Washington DC and across the country, including National Health IT Week 2013 participants —vendors, provider organizations, payers, pharmaceutical/biotech companies, government agencies, industry/professional associations, research foundations, and consumer protection groups— all working together to elevate national attention to the advantages of advancing health IT.
Visit www.HealthITWeek.org for a full list of partners and updates on the Week’s national activities. Working together with our growing coalition of stakeholders, SHARE is helping to transform healthcare for Arkansans and for all.
SHARE Launches New Logo and Responsive Website
Say hello to the new SHARE! We are excited to announce the launch of a fresh new SHARE logo and website. The new branding marks a season of explosive growth as we have successfully moved from Phase I into Phase II of the statewide health information exchange (HIE) and are currently connecting more than 100 health care entities to SHARE.
Our new logo symbolizes two-way data sharing and represents a vibrant future of health information exchange in Arkansas. You’ll see four brightly colored arrows pointing inward—these signify different health care providers sending clinical information to SHARE. The four white arrows pointing outward represent SHARE gathering these disconnected health records and pushing them out to providers when and where they're needed.
This bold new look carries over into the SHARE website, where you’ll find updated information and new interactive features packaged in a repsonsive design, making the site easy to use on your mobile phone, tablet and desktop computer.
As we advance to this critical stage of growth, our new bright colors, dynamic logo and new website align SHARE's image with the ground-breaking and important work we are doing for the Arkansas health care community and the patients it serves.
If you use the SHARE logo in any marketing materials, please Contact Us and request a new logo. Leave a comment below and let us know what you think about the new SHARE logo and website.
State Scoop: Arkansas Selects Get Real Health as the Pateitn Portal Development Vendor for SHARE
Arkansas Prepares to Exchange Health Records after Disasters
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a July 11 news release highlighting the efforts of 10 state health information exchange (HIE) programs that have set up infrastructure to enable the exchange of health information among providers caring for patients who are displaced from their homes in natural disasters. SHARE is currently building an interstate Direct connection that will allow Arkansas to connect with the 10 states that have already announced their partnership in the HHS program.
See the news release below.
States prepare for seamless exchange of health records after disasters
Ten state HIE programs have established infrastructure for secure exchange of health information
As part of an effort to help make sure their residents’ health information is available after a hurricane or other wide-spread disaster, four Gulf states have partnered with six states in the East and Midwest to help patients and providers access critical health information when they are unable to visit their regular doctors or hospitals.
Working with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), health information exchange (HIE) programs in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and West Virginia today announced their partnership to allow for the exchange of health information among providers caring for patients who are displaced from their homes.
All of the state HIE programs participating in the initiative currently have established at least one operational interstate connection and are working with other states including Arkansas and Mississippi. The 10-state initiative is being made possible through information technology infrastructure provided through Direct. Direct is a tool developed by an ONC-led collaboration with broad health information technology (IT) industry participation that allows for the secure exchange of health information over the Internet.
“Through disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy and large tornadoes in Alabama and Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 and more recently in Moore, Oklahoma, we have learned the importance of protecting patients’ health records through electronic tools like health information exchanges,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., national coordinator for health IT. “Patients are better off when states and health information exchange organizations work together to ensure that health information can follow patients when they need it the most.”
A guidebook, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, can also help primary care clinicians connect their patients’ electronic health records to a local HIE hub and regional health information organizations. The guide, Regional Health e-Decisions: A Guide to Connect Health Information Exchange in Primary Care, is available at www.healthit.ahrq.gov/RegionalHealtheDecisionsGuide.pdf.
The Southeast Regional Health IT and Health Information Exchange Collaboration (SERCH) is leading the collaborative effort. SERCH was funded through ONC’s State Health Policy Consortium and its members include Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Since SERCH began in April 2010, similar collaborations, using a variety of methods, have helped to resolve cross-border barriers toward facilitating the multi-state exchange of health information.
In 2012, SERCH completed an analysis of barriers to health information exchange and issued recommendations for developing HIE infrastructure to support disaster preparedness and response. In their final report, SERCH recommended a phased approach to use existing data sources such as health plans and state agencies to overcome barriers to HIE across states. The report can be found at http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/SERCH-White-Paper.pdf
“The SERCH effort will enable health care providers to contact a patient’s health plans and available health care providers for information about the patient’s medical history when it is most needed,” said Nicole Lurie, M.D., assistant secretary for Preparedness and Response. “But patients can help protect their own information and that of their children by saving it electronically.”
Photo courtesy of NOAA.
