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Regional Health Information Organizations
Urged on by rising health care costs and state and federal mandates
and opportunities, regions across the U.S. are being challenged to
come together to implement effective Regional Health Information
Organizations (RHIOs). Establishing RHIOs that allow easy sharing of
health records is critical to improving access, quality, and safety
of health care--and stabilizing costs--within our communities. And many RHIOs are under way.
Backed by a broad range of experience in both
the health payer market and clinical health care delivery, CTG
comprehensively manages and/or supports the initiation and execution
of RHIO projects. Our
services encompass governance; funding; public relations;
constituent group awareness; technical and functional architecture
establishment; and technology selection, implementation, and
optimization. CTG has robust experience with facilitating broad
groups of health care stakeholders that often have competing agendas
and priorities, technical architecture planning and design,
marketing and communication as well as electronic medical records (EMR)
adoption and clinical process reengineering.
CTG works with our clients to customize an
approach to meet their
specific objectives. Typical RHIO goals include:
Manage the formation of a community-wide health information exchange Control growth of medical costs for payer and community Reduce administrative costs for payer and community Coordinate community-wide information gathering, eligibility, benefits, out-of-pocket expenses, and requirements Reduce community duplication of infrastructure Improve quality of care through shared medical records Establish a foundation for P4P (pay for performance) where providers are rewarded for the quality of healthcare
services
CTG RHIO Approach
Through our RHIO offering, CTG assists both
emerging and established RHIOs in expanding their services by
externally auditing their processes and clinical information access
as required by governing entities, integrating separate systems
where applicable, or making recommendations for overall improvements
in operational efficiency. We customize the approach to fit each
client’s needs. CTG’s RHIO-related services include:
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Strategic planning
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Governance and leadership
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Feasibility studies
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System selection and implementation
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Grant request assistance
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Funding model development
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Electronic medical record and practice management system
integration
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Standards, security, and privacy policies
The chart below shows the kind of steps CTG
goes through to help its clients select the appropriate technology
RHIOs can employ to gather and disseminate data.
RHIO Benefits
The real benefits of establishing or improving a RHIO differ significantly across the
country. By leveraging CTG’s RHIO expertise, typical advantages can
include:
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Improving the quality of care through the integration of
clinical data and interoperable systems
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Reducing costs through such things as fewer redundant tests,
higher generic drug substitution, and reduction of adverse drug
events
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Lowering administrative expenses at the payer/hospital/provider
level
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Establishing a platform for community best practices
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Driving a meaningful community-wide basis for P4P
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Enabling a coordinated continuum of care for patients
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Including all constituents in a community-wide agenda
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Ontology