What is...
What is an AHRQ HIT Project?
In November 2003, the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced an initiative to support health information technology projects to improve patient safety and quality of care. Through this initiative, AHRQ would release approximately $50 million in funds through grants, contracts, and other activities. One portion of this initiative, the $41 million grant program, "Transforming Healthcare Through Information Technology," includes grants for planning and implementation of health information technology (HIT) in communities as well as grants to examine the value of HIT. Each individual grant, albeit small, is targeted towards highly innovative projects intended to transform healthcare.
In October 2004, the federal government Department of Health and Human Services announced a number of grants awarded through AHRQ to support health information technology. The funds are being used for a number of initiatives, including:
- Promoting access to HIT—Over 100 grants to communities, hospitals, providers, and health care systems to help all phases of health information technology development and use. The grants are spread across 38 States, with a special focus on small and rural hospitals and communities. First-year funding is $41 million and will total nearly $96 million over three years.
- Developing Statewide and regional networks—Five-year contracts to five States or their designees to help develop Statewide networks that are secure, ensure privacy of health information, and make an individuals' health information more available to health care providers. First-year funding is $1 million for each State and will total $25 million over the course of the contracts.
- Encouraging adoption of HIT by sharing knowledge—The creation of the National Health Information Technology Resource Center to aid grantees and other Federal partners by providing technical assistance, provide a focus for collaboration, serve as an information repository, and help providers explore the adoption and use of health information technology. The two-year contract, renewable for up to three years, was awarded to the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), a national organization for research at the University of Chicago. First-year funding is $4 million, with an estimated value of $18.5 million over the course of the contract.
What are RHIOs?
A RHIO (Regional Health Information Organization) is roughly defined as, “…a collaborative project committed to enhancing the delivery of health and human services by facilitating electronic information exchange.”
On October 21, 2003, the Foundation for eHealth Initiative (eHI) publicly released a request for capabilities (RFC) from which 134 organizations responded. From the 134 submissions, 48 organizations were asked to respond to an RFP. In July 2004, the Foundation for eHealth Initiative announced the award of contracts to help communities evaluate important aspects of their projects and support the dissemination of these lessons as broadly as possible. The Foundation, thru CCBH (Connecting Communities for Better Health) gave away about $2 million to 9 awardees in various amounts.
For more information on RHIOs, please see this website http://www.medallies.com/downloads/UHF_QualIT_Newsletter.pdf
What is the Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence?
The HIMSS Davies Award is the preeminent HIT award in the industry recognizing successes, lessons learned, and best practices, evaluated by Committees of past Davies recipients and other subject matter experts via a thorough application screening process and corresponding site visit. Those selected as recipients are chosen to be emulated as best practices for others across the nation to learn from their experience in taking the value that can be derived from an EMR to the next level!
The Davies Award program encourages and recognizes excellence in the implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems. In 1994, the Computer-based Patient Record Institute founded the Davies Award of Excellence and managed the program until merging with HIMSS in 2002. The programs objectives are to:
- Promote the vision of EHR systems through concrete examples;
- Understand and share documented value of EHR systems;
- Provide visibility and recognition for high-impact EHR system; and
- Share successful EHR implementation strategies.
The award is open to hospitals/health systems, independent physician practices and public health systems. The Davies Award annually honors healthcare providers that successfully lead efforts to transform their organization through technology, with the award focusing on the implementation of healthcare technology. During the 13-year history of the Davies Award,
-
24 healthcare organizations have been recognized by the Organizational Davies Award, initiated in 1994
-
13 practices have been recognized by the Ambulatory Care Davies Award, initiated in 2003
-
7 public health entities have received the Public Health Davies Award, initiated in 2004
More information on the selection process and the Davies Award criteria is available at: www.himss.org/davies.
What is HIMSS State Legislation Tracker?
The HIMSS State Legislation Tracker tracks key pending health technology legislation at the state level. It contains critical information that enables stakeholders to assess legislation and its potential impact on current and future healthcare transformation initiatives. The Legislation Tracker:
- Provides a summary and description of pending legislation and its approval status
- Documents HIMSS chapter-level positions on legislation
- Provides relevant links to state health information exchange initiatives sponsored by the governor of that state.
View the State Legislation Tracker
What is a HIMSS Chapter?
HIMSS has 45 chapters and more than 20,000 members working in healthcare organizations throughout the world. Chapters provide valuable links between healthcare professionals in close proximity.
HIMSS chapters regularly meet to learn from expert speakers, share knowledge, and network. Chapters publish newsletters, and maintain web sites to keep members posted on industry and HIMSS events. They hold educational sessions designed to help you in the workplace and are one of the best resources you can have for keeping abreast of local issues.
For more information contact the Member Services Department at (312) 915-9202 or chapters@himss.org.
Click here for a list that links to information specific to each chapter, such as the current chapter president, their e-mail address, and the chapter's web site link.