Fourteen Critical Access Hospitals Join The Nebraska Statewide Health Information Exchange
The Nebraska Health Information Initiative (NeHII), Nebraska's statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) announced recently that within the past month, fourteen Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) have joined NeHII in an effort to access and share health information across the state. Powered by the Axolotl HIE platform from OptumInsight, NeHII electronically delivers clinical information at the point of care, integrating a wide variety of patient clinical data including laboratory results, ER reports, discharge summaries, radiology reports, progress notes, transcription, medications and other medical information.
Critical Access Hospitals that have joined NeHII include:
- Antelope Memorial Hospital, Neligh, NE
- Avera Creighton Hospital, Creighton, NE
- Avera St. Anthony's Hospital, O'Neill, NE
- Chase County Community Hospital, Imperial, NE
- Cherry County Hospital, Valentine, NE
- Community Hospital, McCook, NE
- Community Medical Center, Falls City, NE
- Community Memorial Hospital, Syracuse, NE
- Lexington Regional Health Center, Lexington, NE
- Memorial Health Center, Sidney, NE
- Perkins County Health Services, Grant, NE
- Plainview Area Health System, Plainview, NE
- Providence Medical Center, Wayne, NE
- Tri Valley Health Center, Cambridge, NE
"Memorial Health Center is committed to providing the highest quality care possible, from the latest in technology and equipment to electronic information accessibility," stated Kelly Utley, Chief Financial Officer at Memorial Health Center. Utley also noted, "Being able to exchange health information electronically between providers is the latest step toward achieving that high quality. We are very excited to be a part of this information exchange because it keeps our hospital on the leading edge, not only in the state of Nebraska but in the country."
Small hospitals may be certified as Critical Access Hospitals to help implement initiatives to strengthen the rural healthcare infrastructure. In 1997 the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program was established to promote regionalization of rural health services in the state and to improve the quality of healthcare and access to hospital and other health services for rural residents of the state.
Among other requirements, CAHs must be located in rural areas separated from other hospitals by at least 35 miles or less in mountainous terrain or areas with only secondary roads available, and are required to provide emergency services 24 hours per day. Nebraska ranks among the highest in the number of CAHs in the nation with 65.
Physicians working with the newly-participating CAHs will have secure access to electronically exchange and share clinical patient information and medication history with other hospitals and healthcare providers across the state that care for their patients.
NeHII Executive Director Deb Bass said, "This is a thrilling announcement for Nebraskans. Because of the extensive rural populations in the state, the CAHs play a critical role in the delivery of quality healthcare. With the CAHs participation in NeHII, they will be able to retrieve information on their patients returning from larger referral health systems across the states. With the implementation of health information technology and telehealth, there will be opportunities for the patient to remain at the CAH and recover in familiar healthcare settings surrounded by their families."
Leaders of the initiative expect further CAHs to elect to participate throughout 2011.
About NeHII:
As an early adopter and national leader for Health Information Exchange, NeHII, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization has functioned as a public-private collaborative that currently reaches nearly 85 percent of lives in Nebraska and a substantial number of individuals in Nebraska's six border states. NeHII's vision is to be a leader in the secure exchange of health information, enabling a healthier Nebraska. For more information, visit www.nehii.org.
SOURCE: The Nebraska Health Information Initiative (NeHII)