PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Vital connections HIEs improve patient care BY CRYSTAL CONDE In
2006, North Texas Spe- cialty Physicians, a group of Fort Worth doctors, de- veloped a tool to help them manage the increas- ing complexities of patient care. Their brain child, a privately funded health in- formation exchange (HIE) known as Sandlot Connect, blossomed over the years and now counts among its users more than 2,400 phy- sicians and staff members, along with two national laboratories and 15 Texas hospitals.
Thomas Deas, MD, a
gastroenterologist and Sandlot’s chief medical of- ficer, says the HIE allows physicians to coordinate care, manage costs, and assess quality of care. He witnessed how an HIE im- proves the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care.
“If you talk to almost any physician, you’ll hear about how inefficient and tedious the process is for obtaining patient information from another office, hospital, emergency department, or clinic. The HIE makes it possible for me to securely access patient informa- tion from many different participating facilities in a matter of seconds,” he said. Dr. Deas is one of many Texas physicians who realize the value of HIEs.
Developing HIE infrastructure in Texas has rapidly gained traction due to $28 million in federal Health Information Tech- nology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) funding.
Thomas Deas, MD, says health information exchanges improve care.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) allocated $548 mil- lion of HITECH funds for all 50 states. Texas uses its share of the federal money to establish HIEs in local communities.
As of June, the Texas Health and Human Ser- vices Commission (HHSC) had awarded about $9.5 million to fund the initial planning, development, and implementation of lo- cal HIEs in Texas. Texas Health Services
Authority (THSA) Chief Executive Officer Tony Gil- man says HIEs used the funding in 2011 to sup- port the development of business and operational plans and outreach with physicians and other key stakeholders. The grant program requires HIEs to obtain commitments from hospitals and physicians willing to guarantee their support and participation
in the local networks. Physicians who wish to participate in an HIE sign a statement of interest. Almost 23,000 Texas phy- sicians have signed a statement of interest to participate in a local HIE. This year, HIEs are using funding to support overall operations, including personnel, HIE technology selection and deployment, development of marketing materials, and plan- ning for future operations. THSA, under contract with HHSC, oversees the development and implementation of HIEs in Texas.
Joseph Schneider, MD, chair of the TMA Ad Hoc Commit- October 2012 TEXAS MEDICINE 43
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THOMAS DEAS, MD
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