HCC of Lafayette County's Heath Information Technology Workgroup

Description

The Health Care Collaborative (HCC) of Rural Missouri is comprised of over 40 organizations that serve West Central Missouri. This network provides a centralized effort to ensure adequate provision of healthcare services to the public. It also serves as a source of advocacy for healthcare providers.

View this video on how the HCC builds success through collaboration:

Read more about HCC in the RHIhub's Rural Monitor article Rural Network Leads the Way with Intentional Collaboration.

One specific focus of the HCC was to address technological needs, such as electronic medical records (EMR) and telemedicine, for local healthcare facilities, schools, prisons, and community organizations. The Rural Health Information Technology (HIT) workgroup was formed to help uncover those needs, install electronic systems, and train staff on how to operate them.

With each project, the workgroup offset the cost of HIT equipment by purchasing it for the providers while connecting clients to technology support groups for further assistance. Through the leveraging of existing resources and collaborating to address issues, HCC's HIT workgroup ultimately strived to improve patient safety, lower patient charges, reduce emergency room care, and decrease test duplication.

View this video to hear the impact of HCC's Health Information Technology in Missouri's rural communities:

HCC partners with local hospitals, practitioners, mental health providers, health departments, and health education members to expand telemedicine access. Several of their partners included Lafayette County Health Department, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Care Connection for Aging Services, Missouri Telehealth Network, and many others.

HCC's HIT workgroup was originally supported by a 2011-2013 Rural Health Information Technology Network Development grant, but the program is no longer active.

Services offered

HCC's HIT committee installed the following technology enhancements at facilities in Lafayette and surrounding counties, as well as trained staff on how to operate them:

• Electronic prescriptions (eRx) – Allowed providers and pharmacists to transmit and file prescriptions electronically
• Telehealth – Established especially in primary care rural facilities, this system allowed providers access to preventive and curative health advice through telecommunication services, often through videoconferencing
• Electronic Medical Records (EMR) – Digitally stored dictation and medical notes from a practitioner about a patient's visit
• Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) – Connected emergency room medical teams instantly to critical patient information and used electronic charting

Results

By the end of their grant period, HCC's HIT workgroup completed their work and achieved the following for HCC and its partners in West Central Missouri:

• Assisted in the installation of EDIS at a local healthcare facility, making it one of the nation's leading facilities of its size in electronic medical systems
• Through partnering with local providers, HCC implemented eRx for nearly a dozen Lafayette County providers
• Identified acute needs hindering facilities' adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) including lack of funding, provider fears, and multiple EHR products selected without interoperability

Challenges

Along with the general barriers HCC encounters on a large-scale level (high poverty, poor reimbursement, lack of care coordination), their HIT workgroup faced several barriers, including broadband connectivity and equipment costs.

Broadband continues to be an issue, but with new resources through the USAC program, HCC has had an opportunity to expand other services, their Project Connect events among them.

Replication

Below are some of the key principles that can be duplicated by networks that wish to replicate HCC's HIT workgroup:

• Share HIT professional services among your partners
• Encourage roundtable sharing between HIT partners
• Collaboration and partnerships are key success factors
• You can still be financially viable even when you are fast-growing
• Strategic planning is an ongoing process that requires dedication to its purpose

Contact Information

Toniann Richard, CEO
Health Care Collaborative of Rural Missouri
Health Care Collaborative (HCC) of Rural Missouri
660.259.2440
toniann@hccnetwork.org