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eHealth Collaborative Hits Ground Running
The Massachusetts
eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC) -- a coalition of Massachusetts
organizations determined to improve the safety, efficiency, and
quality of health care through community-wide implementation of
electronic health records with embedded medical-decision support
(see Vital
Signs, October) -- is now accepting applications for its
first community-wide demonstration projects.
Micky Tripathi, the Collaborative's newly
appointed chief executive officer, brings wide-ranging expertise
in business and electronic health information exchange. "With
the Collaborative's diverse group of stakeholders already in
place, strong health care institutions throughout Massachusetts,
and a significant funding commitment, the odds of success are extremely
high," said Mr. Tripathi.
For its demonstration projects, the Collaborative
is looking for communities that constitute what Mr. Tripathi calls
"relatively self-contained medical markets" -- areas
where, for example, a hospital, medical lab, specialty and primary-care
physician offices, and pharmacies regularly need to interact on
behalf of patients. "That is where the benefits of clinical
information exchange are greatest," explained Mr. Tripathi.
The demonstration projects will help the Collaborative
better understand the true costs and benefits of IT penetration
and interconnection. The MAeHC's ultimate goal is to foster
a self-sustaining, fully interconnected health care information
network that spans the Bay State.
The deadline for submitting a demonstration
project application to MAeHC is January 21, 2005. You can find a
full description of the project, along with application materials,
on the MMS website at www.massmed.org/pages/ehealth_rfa.asp.
- Lloyd Resnick
| eHealth Collaborative, patient safety, quality improvement |
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