Expanding Access for Rural IT Funding

High IT Needs in Rural Health Clinics

(A summary of a webinar posted by Health Information Technology Research Center)

Rural Healthcare facilities in rural States are often under the management and funding of critical access hospitals and rural small hospitals. Research has shown that many need a full suite of IT services. Some of the top needs in order of priority are:

1.  Replace / upgrade and add additional workstations. Most run Windows XP and need to run Windows 7 or higher.
2. Server room upgrades. Building changes like more space, cooling and locks for HIPAA security are needed.
3. Security risk analysis is very important! This is required for meaningful use and is not purchased with the EHR software.
4.  Better Internet access with more bandwidth and less expense.
5.  Personnel. In rural health clinics and hospitals, there is often a lack of dedicated IT and Informatics staff, and  the current staff lack training.
6. Hardware such as additional and upgraded servers, hosting routers and wireless upgrades on portable devices.

There are also IT needs for Stage 2 Meaningful Use:

• Purchase EHR patient portal and related expenses.
• Operating system upgrades
• On-going submission of public health data that require either interfaces to HIE or HIE. This includes a monthly maintenance cost.
• Upgrades to HL-7 compliant lab and radiology systems.

Additionally, there are Clinical IT needs:

• Replace non-HL7 lab systems with HL7-compliant ones
•    Replace radiology equipment.      
•    Replace outdated telemetry equipment.
• Replace outdated nurse call system.
•    HIM coding software need and training of coder.

The status of rural hospitals, clinics and specialist practices in Iowa that have achieved meaningful use attestation and received their incentive money is: 800 have been paid; 52% of the clinics, 900 clinics and hospitals, have not been paid for Stage 1. Other rural States most likely have similar statistics.

With all of these needs, and especially with the declining funding from the government’s Incentive Program to the regional extension centers, the key obstacle is funding. In rural States, there is a loss of money on patient care alone when practices don’t receive incentive money. Five rural States including Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and Wyoming have recently received funding from the USDA Rural Development, Rural Utility program for IT upgrades and additions, and meaningful use Stage 2 IT support.

New funding through FCC’s HC Connect Fund is paying 65% of last mile connection costs from the hospital to the Illinois Rural Health Network backbone. In Illinois, they are connecting many rural health clinics with broadband to the network. The advantage to rural hospitals is great. Many rural hospitals are on T1 lines. The time difference for sending an echo cardiogram over a TI line is 3 hours; over Fiber Optic is 3 seconds. The hospitals are sharing 35% of the cost. A new RFP for additional funding through HC Connect will be posted shortly.

www.meaningfuluseexperts.com (800) 409-0096