Applying Lessons Learned in Community Collaboration to Health Information Technology - 2010

Target Population: Not Applicable

Summary: Establishing systems for electronic data exchange presents technical and financial challenges and challenges stakeholder collaboration. Approaches that create mutual benefits, meet competing needs, and generate operating efficiencies need to be identified. This project focuses on how models of community planning and development in health care and other industries can be used to establish sustainable Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) and health information exchanges (HIEs). It seeks to identify characteristics that distinguish successful and unsuccessful collaborations to guide future RHIO and HIE development.

The project team convened a meeting of stakeholders to obtain input on best practices for collaboration. In preparation for the meeting, the project team developed a background report that includes a literature review and dissemination plan. Based on the literature review and meeting outcomes, the team will draft a summary of best practices and recommendations for establishing and sustaining RHIOs and HIEs. The team will prepare a final report that will include models and case studies to describe applicable best practices from the field of community development, and will make recommendations for ongoing research, implementation, and policy work.

• Conduct a comprehensive literature review on community planning and development as well as RHIO and HIE initiatives. (Achieved)
• Convene an innovation meeting comprised of RHIO and HIE leaders and national and international community planning experts to assess the applicability of community collaboration models to sustainable RHIOs and HIE, and to identify best practices, illustrative models, and case studies. (Achieved)
• Prepare a final report synthesizing results and findings from the literature review and meeting and make recommendations for ongoing research, implementation, and policy work in the RHIO and HIE fields. (Ongoing)
• Develop, execute, and evaluate a communication and dissemination plan to drive awareness and integration of project findings and recommendations into practice at national, State, and local levels. (Ongoing)

2010 Activities: Project staff conducted the literature review, finalized the project work plans, and held an innovation meeting. An innovation meeting transcript and summary were provided to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Findings from the literature review and innovation meeting discussions were synthesized into a Draft Final Report. In addition the team developed an Updated Dissemination Plan. Both documents were submitted to AHRQ. Upon receiving AHRQ’s feedback on the drafts, a Final Report will be prepared and sent to AHRQ; execution of the dissemination plan will then commence.

Preliminary Impact and Findings: The project has no reportable findings at this time.

Strategic Goal: Develop and disseminate health IT evidence and evidence-based tools to support patient-centered care, the coordination of care across transitions, and the electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care.

Business Goal: Synthesis and Dissemination