Dear Healthcare IT Insider,
The 2008 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting in Orlando, FL, last month proved to be a fine source of advice and knowledge on all things healthcare IT. A healthy dose of thought-provoking debate on issues facing the marketplace also offered insight on where healthcare IT is headed in the future.
With HIMSS 2008 as our foundation, this issue of the Healthcare IT Insider features Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center's telehealth program. Bonnie Britton, chief nursing officer and telemedicine advocate at the Murfreesboro, NC, facility, details how the initiative is making strides in improving the health of residents in four counties.
The task has not been easy. The rural region lacks public transportation, and many of its residents live in poverty. It's quite the challenge to change lifestyles and conditions that have endured for generations. Learn more about the telehealth program by clicking here.
Also in this edition, read how Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick, ME, took matters into its own hands when its IT infrastructure was no longer actively supported by the hospital's vendors. Read how from desperation came inspiration for the 55-bed facility in this report.
Boston-based Partners Community Healthcare is well on its way to achieving the ambitious goal of having all its physicians connected to an electronic medical record system by 2009. Click here to find out how the healthcare system, which includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, is making it happen.
And, finally, one more look at the HIMSS keynote address by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt, who advocates that trust must be built locally for healthcare IT policies and new ventures. Leavitt also provides an update on HHS initiatives to make healthcare IT more reliable and adaptable despite divergent technologies.
As always, check the Healthcare IT Digital Community daily at AuntMinnie.com for continuing coverage of news, developments, and ways other IT professionals are making strides in healthcare.
