Following a rigorous review, Randolph Medical Center, a critical access hospital in Roanoke, Alabama, has selected Dairyland Healthcare Solutions as its technology partner. Together, the two are embarking on what may become a landmark project to set standards and create a model for how non-affiliated hospitals can exchange patient data in full compliance with all patient privacy regulations.
Randolph Medical Center is the only Alabama Hospital to receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through a $1.2 million Critical Access Hospital Health Information Grant. The data exchange will be operational by February 2009. The Alabama Department of Public Health will administer the grant between Randolph Medical Center, a rural critical access hospital (CAH) and East Alabama Medical Center which is about 50 miles away and is the primary transfer hospital for Randolph. The initiative will be deployed in three phases beginning in October and will enable easy data transfer to East Alabama for telemedicine and clinical studies.
Dairyland was chosen from a large field of technology vendors by a selection committee that included nurses, physicians and other practitioners. They selected the company for two key reasons: the comprehensiveness and ease of use of its technology and Dairyland’s track record in building patient data exchanges. Currently, Dairyland is working with the Louisiana Rural Hospital Coalition to build a data exchange between a group of hospitals and Louisiana State Medical Center at Shreveport. This ambitious initiative–most of the affected hospitals are in communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina–has caught the eye of Alabama’s Department of Public Health and Dairyland has been invited to meet with the department to provide strategic insights on the Louisiana project.
Under The Regulatory Microscope
But the Alabama project charts entirely new territory: it is believed to be one of the first efforts between two non-affiliated hospitals to openly share patient data in real-time. This scenario raises many legal, procedural and potentially ethical issues that must be effectively addressed if America is to realize the vision of totally electronic medical records. Together, Randolph and Dairyland are tackling these often complex issues.
In what may become the framework for how non-affiliated hospitals can navigate complex patient data privacy regulations, Randolph Medical and East Alabama are working through and setting protocols for a range of issues including how patient consent is secured and which medical personnel can view which documents.
Randolph Medical Center CEO Tim Harlin says that the Alabama Department of Public Health is very involved in terms of strategic oversight in these areas. “Hospitals across the country are wrestling with how, where and to whom to provide patient information. We’re very much under the microscope on this initiative,” he explained.
Dairyland CEO James Burgess said that “We are pleased that Randolph Medical Center has chosen Dairyland as its technology partner. We are enthusiastic about helping Randolph work through many of the questions that relate to patient records and establish new technology standards to address these. This is a very important and exciting initiative to be part of,” he said.
Dairyland’s experience in building data exchanges coupled with the thoroughness of its clinical solutions will help facilitate the process of developing protocols in this uncharted territory between hospitals with no formal relationship. Harlin said that Dairyland’s technology consistently scored high on important criteria and the selection committee was impressed with the comprehensive and fully integrated capabilities of Dairyland’s clinical solutions. “We had a $1.2 million gift. We’re a small, rural hospital so freeing up that kind of capital does not happen often. We decided early on that we were not going to take the path of least resistance.”
Alabama Ranks High in Heart Disease: Need for Fast Data on Patients
At Randolph Medical Center, the technology initiative is designed to enable fast, easy access to critical patient information by health providers at both hospitals–especially cardiologists–since Alabama ranks near the top among all states for heart disease and Randolph Medical is located in one of the highest cardiac disease counties in the state. As a small rural hospital, Randolph’s role is to stabilize cardiac cases and then transfer them quickly to East Alabama Medical Center, which is a full service hospital with total cardiac capabilities. The initial goal of the data exchange is for East Alabama cardiologists to have real-time access to lab results for patients who are en route to their Emergency Room.
About Dairyland Healthcare Systems
Dairyland Healthcare Solutions is an award-winning healthcare information systems company that links essential information between small community hospitals and their healthcare delivery and business networks. Dairyland enables its hospital partners to deliver the highest level of patient care by providing the information infrastructure required to operate effectively in the dynamic and complex healthcare delivery environment. For almost three decades, Dairyland has partnered with leading community hospitals to help them improve efficiencies, enhance profitability and ensure patient safety by providing solutions to manage, integrate and access key financial, clinical and patient information. Dairyland is the only company to be awarded three consecutive “Best in KLAS” ratings in the Community Hospital Information Systems category. To learn more, visit: http://www.dhsnet.com.
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