eHI Toolkit Putting Communities on Health Information Exchange Fast Track
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Karla Hurter |
January 31, 2006 |
Move will advance President's call for rapid adoption of EHRs
January 31, 2006, Washington, D.C. Once a month, voices are heard from Alaska to Massachusetts. A growing coalition of more than 200 state, regional and community-based initiatives who are driving healthcare transformation through HIT and health information exchange participate in an afternoon phone conference to share on-the-ground experiences. The real-world knowledge gained from these "fellow warriors" is invaluable to initiatives that may be just gearing up or are already exchanging information electronically to support improvements in the quality and efficiency of healthcare.
That monthly call is facilitated by the eHealth Initiative and its Foundation (eHI), which are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations that bring together multiple, diverse stakeholders to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology. Today, eHI releases the next generation of tools to improve healthcare through HIT adoption and health information exchange. The eHealth Initiative Connecting Communities Toolkit is a structured, how-to synthesis of principles and tools designed to equip states, regions and local communities with the information and expertise to begin or advance local health information exchange initiatives and organizations. It offers insight into areas crucial to start-up and successful survival such as organizational structure, value creation, financing, practice transformation, quality, information-sharing policies, technical aspects and public policy and advocacy. The Toolkit is available online at www.ehealthinitiative.org.
"This Toolkit is a distillation of the knowledge that we have accumulated over the years as we have worked with multiple stakeholders and different communities," said Janet Marchibroda, chief executive officer of eHI. "Stakeholders from every sector of healthcare, pioneers who are mobilizing information at the state, regional and community levels, and leading experts have provided significant input into a set of common principles and guides in seven modules, each including easily accessible online documents and tools. Now, states, regions or communities can use one or more modules to move forward with confidence and at a more rapid pace."
Release of the Toolkit coincides with a call for more information in the hands of healthcare consumers and faster adoption of electronic health records by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address today, as well as a number of policies emerging from Congress, the Administration and several leaders across the private sector. More than two hundred state, regional and community-based health information exchange efforts are already underway nationwide.
Francois de Brantes, eHI's board president and program leader, healthcare initiatives for General Electric, has personally been participating in an effort in his state to create an HIE organization.
"After six months of meetings that included hospital executives, health plan executives, state and local government executives, and clinicians, the group is formally getting the state effort up and running," de Brantes said. "With just one of the eHI Toolkit elements, the timeline could have been easily halved. It's a must-have for any organization that is trying to bring the nationwide health information network to their local area."
The common principles and tools included in the Toolkit reflect the input of diverse healthcare stakeholders from across the United States. Also embedded are a number of principles now emerging from the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies as well as nationally-recognized efforts from groups such as the Markle Foundation's Connecting for Health initiative.
"The eHI Connecting Communities Toolkit provides guidance at a time when many state and local leaders need help," said J. Marc Overhage, MD, PhD, president and chief executive officer of the Indiana Health Information Exchange and co-chair of eHI's Connecting Communities membership. "Given the rapid increase in the awareness of how health information exchange can improve healthcare, many leaders are moving beyond the awareness stage and are now asking, 'how do we get started and how do we navigate through all of the information now emerging from national and local efforts?'. The Toolkit will help communities track emerging national policies and extend them the benefit from the experiences of their colleagues in the field, who are grappling with the many aspects of health information exchange implementation."
Principles, resources and tools in the Toolkit are presented in seven modules:
- Getting Started
- Organization and Governance
- Value Creation and Financing
- Practice Transformation and Quality
- Policies for Information Sharing
- Technical Aspects
- Public Policy and Advocacy
The Toolkit is available to the public through www.ehealthinitiative.org. Each module includes an introduction and overview, a roadmap, key principles, sample community experiences, and a set of resources and links specific to the module. Over the next several weeks, a series of interactive tools, including a cost model for health information exchange, a market assessment tool, and sustainable business model templates will be also be provided to support health information exchange implementation on the ground. Much of the work related to the Toolkit was supported by funds from a cooperative agreement of the Health Resources Services Administration Office of the Advancement of Telehealth.
"While there is still no single 'one-size fits all' approach, common themes and principles are beginning to emerge. The Toolkit is designed to be a living, breathing, constantly improving resource," Marchibroda said. "Through eHI's rapidly growing coalition of 200 communities and membership representing every stakeholder in healthcare at the national level, we will work to find common ground and provide guidance to those who want to mobilize information to support patient care. We're still in the early stages. As the healthcare system evolves, so will the Toolkit."
"All of these local efforts are going through the same steps to determine how they will organize themselves, the scope of their exchange, their sustainability model, their technology model, and other important start-up considerations," de Brantes said. "eHI is the only organization in the country that has worked with similar start-ups and learned what works and what doesn't. All these lessons and best practices are included in this important Toolkit," he said. "For any eHI emerging or even established organization, this is a must-have. It could save them countless hours and scarce financial resources."
About eHealth Initiative and its Foundation
The eHealth Initiative and its Foundation are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations who engage the multiple stakeholders in healthcare, including clinicians, employers, health plans, healthcare IT suppliers, hospitals, laboratories, patient groups, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, pharmacies, and public health agencies, to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology. Key areas of focus include:
- Developing and disseminating knowledge or common principles, policies and best practices for supporting transformation through HIT and health information exchange;
- Providing seed funding for emerging state, regional and community-based multi-stakeholder initiatives;
- Providing "hands-on help" or technical assistance to emerging collaborative efforts at the state, regional and local levels, working with partners and extenders;
- Advocating for continued favorable national policies related to HIT and health information exchange.
For more information, go to http://www.ehealthinitiative.org.
Additional Reading:
Frequently Asked Questions about the Toolkit
August, 2005 report "Emerging Trends and Issues in Health Information Exchange"
eHI Funded Communities, Community Profiles, Community Directory
