PM Network - November 2009

UP

>>>CUREALL

THE PROJECT: Link 24 hospitals in rural Louisiana, USA through an electronic healthcare management system

THE BUDGET: US$26 million

THE PROJECT PLAYERS: Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange, Louisiana Rural Hospital Coalition Inc. and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

AN AILING SYSTEM

When Hurricane Katrina shut down hospitals across southeast Louisiana, doctors knew they needed a better way to access patient records and improve care in the state’s rural areas.

Looking for a cure, the Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange launched a project to integrate medical records across 24 hospitals into a single system and establish a statewide telemedicine operation.

SUPPORT SYSTEM

In late 2006, the group’s CEO Don Hines, MD, secured financial support for the project from the state legislature. The team planned to link 14 hospitals during the first two years of the project and then bring in the remaining ones the following year.

beginning. “It was like trying to change a tire while the car is still moving,” he says, laughing.

Many of these patients are retired or disabled. They have no transportation and may be 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the nearest specialist. Being able to get the treatment they need at their local hospital is a huge benefit. That’s been a great success story of this project.

—Don Hines, MD, Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange, Bunkie, Louisiana, USA

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IN RECOVERY

With the project’s first set of hospitals in place, the team realized each one depended on different software for its record-keeping. Although the team initially tried to work with existing systems to save money, it eventually integrated them into a single interface—a US$5 million shift that wasn’t part of the original budget.

It seemed a dire prognosis at first, but the team cut some ancillary elements and used money set aside for maintenance to finance the integration.

“We had to spread the costs out over a couple of years, but we did it,” Dr. Hines says.

CALL THE DOCTOR

The doctor “visits” are facilitated by a nurse on the patient’s side of the screen, who can work heart monitors, cameras or other equipment.

CURING THE SKEPTICS

Change can be a tough pill to swallow, so Dr. Hines used the technology to conduct training sessions—in the process demonstrating how easy it was to manage. But he was still met with strong skepticism at the

CURRENT CONDITIONS

The state’s struggling economy put the plan to integrate the remaining 10 hospitals on hold until new funding is obtained. But the team did manage to secure US$2 million to keep the current system operational and continue training efforts.