Assessed the value of a computerized clinic order entry tool in rural primary care practices for appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy for acute respiratory infections, frequency of hemoglobin A1c in diabetics, incidence of outpatient adverse drug events, and influenza vaccine immunizations.
Utilized existing health IT standards to integrate the current stand-alone databases and information systems of a consortium of three rural health care systems as the basis for creating a comprehensive electronic health record for patient care.
Launches a health records-sharing project, led by Geisinger Health System, with Shamokin Area Community Hospital and Sunbury Community Hospital to permit secure electronic access to patient records.
Conducted a formal clinical information and technical needs assessment to identify the optimal technical model for information sharing as well as actions required to overcome barriers; developed a project plan that promoted implementation of cost-effective clinical information services.
Implemented a computer decision-support system in a 23-county service area in both inpatient and outpatient settings, including several rural clinics; included a training component for physicians and other health care providers, as well as a hospital pharmacy component for adverse drug event management and prevention strategies.
Implemented the newly developed Electronic Vision Rehabilitation Record and its tools to evaluate the effectiveness of current best practices and help refine practice as the evidence indicates.
Facilitates transfer of information among providers and patients in the Presque Isle community; implements a model of chronic care management; and educates area health care providers on how best to use current information systems to communicate with each other.
Documented the patient safety and health care quality challenges in critical access to rural hospitals, and assessed health IT capacity in these rural hospitals and how they would use health IT to improve safety and quality; developed decisionmaking health IT toolkits for other rural hospitals.
Developed a regional health IT strategic plan between 28 health care providers, including a comprehensive needs assessment of all of the participating organizations, prioritization of needs, identification of health IT solutions to prioritized needs, and development of appropriate implementation plans.
Planned the implementation of a common infrastructure for an integrated EHR and CPOE to enhance access to clinical data, developed a workable model/plan for standards-based data sharing to allow multiple providers using disparate information systems to access patient information, and created a quality measurement and enhancement tool that measures improvements in quality and patient care.
