Health Information Technology and Exchange

The health care industry has been relatively slow to digitize. Experts believe expanding the exchange of electronic health records could dramatically improve health care quality and cost savings by helping eliminate duplicated or unneeded services. With billions of dollars in new federal incentives soon available, the adoption of electronic medical records is expected to surge. KHI researchers help define the appropriate uses of private and secure data to improve health and KHI News Service journalists chronicle various HIE and HIT initiatives.

Photo by Phil Cauthon

Kansas frustrations with exchange development common among states

Only a third of states ‘definitely will be ready’ for Oct. exchange deadline, national Medicaid official says

0 | Health Reform, HIE-HIT, Medicaid-CHIP

Development of the state's $139 million Medicaid enrollment system is currently "on time" and "within the budget," said Dr. Robert Moser, secretary of the agency spearheading the project. However, Moser said meeting the deadline has been complicated by the fact that details for connecting to the exchange have yet to be finalized by the federal government.

Policy and Research

Kansas e-Health Advisory Council

0 | Dec. 09, 2009 | HIE-HIT

The Kansas Health Institute is a member of the Kansas e-Health Advisory Council, a project of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment that is working to develop strategic plans to build a statewide infrastructure that will facilitate the exchange of health information.

HIE/HIT in Kansas

1 | Mar. 16, 2009 | HIE-HIT

This slide presentation to the e-Health Advisory Committee reviews the progress of implementing HIT/HIE in Kansas.

HISPC, Phase III: Kansas State Report

0 | Mar. 16, 2009 | HIE-HIT

The potential transformation of health care in terms of quality and cost through the use of health information technology (HIT) and health information exchange (HIE) has been, and continues to be, a high priority at both the federal and state level.

Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration

0 | Mar. 01, 2009 | HIE-HIT

The Kansas Health Institute has been a part of this project to remove barriers to establishing effective health information exchanges.

Kansas HIE Exchange Commission Final Report

0 | Aug. 31, 2007 | HIE-HIT

This report summarizes the findings of the Kansas Health Information Exchange Commission regarding the ability to facilitate a statewide exchange of health information.

More in HIE-HIT Research

News

Rural Kansas doc named to national health IT leadership group

0 | Jun. 11, 2013 | HIE-HIT, Rural Health

Dr. Jen Brull — a family medicine physician in the tiny western Kansas town of Plainville — is among the first class of 28 fellows to be named this month by the national agency that coordinates health information technology efforts.

In case of tornado, electronic patient records prove critical

0 | May. 28, 2013 | Emergency Preparedness, HIE-HIT

If the hospital in Moore, Okla., had still been using paper, officials said, “the first thing we would have had to do was find their records. And with all of the hustle and bustle of a disaster, they can easily get lost.” As for any records left behind in files, “if the tornado doesn’t get them, the subsequent rain would ruin them.”

Network execs squabble over issue of exchange connectivity

0 | May. 23, 2013 | HIE-HIT

Following a heated exchange between two network chief executives, the board regulating digital health record exchange in Kansas voted yesterday to prohibit the networks from charging each other connectivity fees until at least 2015.

KU Hospital, Shawnee Mission going live on statewide health record exchange

0 | May. 09, 2013 | HIE-HIT, Hospitals

Shawnee Mission Medical Center went live this week and the University of Kansas Hospital is set to go live May 15, making the systems the fifth and sixth in the Kansas City metro area to join the LACIE network, one of two networks comprising the state's digital health information exchange.

Safety-net providers moving forward with health information exchange

0 | May. 09, 2013 | HIE-HIT, Safety Net

With initial assistance from the REACH Healthcare Foundation, more than a dozen safety-net medical providers in Johnson and Wyandotte counties have started working to improve care coordination by sharing patient records electronically.

Kansas insurance officials hope to give federal insurance exchange a local flavor

2 | Jun. 18, 2013 | Health Reform, Insurance

Kansas is among the states where federal officials will run the new health insurance exchanges but the state’s top insurance regulators said they hope to inject a local flavor. Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said her agency has been in discussion with the feds about having some of the more complex calls to the exchange’s toll-free helpline roll over to her department so that Kansas consumers come in touch quickly with local people more familiar with the Kansas insurance plans offered in the exchange and the governing regulations.

Budget earmark for reading program raises questions

0 | Jun. 17, 2013 | Budget, Children, Legislature

A late, largely unnoticed addition to the budget bill that was approved in the final days of this year’s legislative session appears to be a boon for a Kansas company that sells access to a computer program intended to help elementary students learn to read.

Regional HHS director meets with Kansas health consumer advocates

0 | Jun. 14, 2013 | Advocacy, Health Reform

The regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services met with representatives of about 10 Kansas health consumer groups to discuss implementation of the Affordable Care Act. "It will be ready. It will happen," said administrator Stephene Moore of the Oct. 1 launch date for the ACA insurance marketplace.

Mental health grants available

0 | Jun. 18, 2013 | Foundations, Mental Health

The Tower Mental Health Foundation is soliciting grant applications for projects and activities that support mental health services in Kansas.

Kansas City among sites included in national mental health initiative

0 | Jun. 18, 2013 | Mental Health

As part of a high-profile White House initiative, the metropolitan area is among a handful of communities around the country expected to gather hundreds of people for a meeting about mental illness within the next few months.

DCF picks child support enforcement contractors

0 | Jun. 14, 2013 | Children, Agencies

Expanded privatization, according to officials at the Kansas Department for Children and Families, could increase child support collections by $52 million over a three-year period.

Kansas insurance officials hope to give federal insurance exchange a local flavor

2 | Jun. 18, 2013 | Health Reform, Insurance

Kansas is among the states where federal officials will run the new health insurance exchanges but the state’s top insurance regulators said they hope to inject a local flavor. Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said her agency has been in discussion with the feds about having some of the more complex calls to the exchange’s toll-free helpline roll over to her department so that Kansas consumers come in touch quickly with local people more familiar with the Kansas insurance plans offered in the exchange and the governing regulations.

Obamacare a concern for school districts, particularly rural ones

2 | Jun. 10, 2013 | Community Health, Health Reform, Insurance

School administrators at small, rural districts around the state say they are alarmed and confounded by the looming, new costs they face with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Administration announces website to encourage exercise

1 | Jun. 07, 2013 | KDHE

The governor and state health officer announced a coming online exercise program designed to encourage Kansans to exercise more, and state workers who do so can earn insurance premium discounts.

Senator plans foster care reform initiative

3 | Jun. 04, 2013 | Children, Agencies, Legislature

A state senator who has adopted four boys out of foster care said he’s putting together a plan for reforming the state’s foster care and adoption programs. “There need to be changes in every single part of the system,” said Sen. Forrest Knox, an Altoona Republican.

State officials submit first quarterly KanCare report to feds

2 | Jun. 07, 2013 | KanCare, Medicaid-CHIP

Kansas officials this week made public their first quarterly report to federal authorities on the progress of KanCare, Gov. Sam Brownback's initiative to move virtually all the state's Medicaid enrollees into privately run managed care plans.

House speaker pleased with KanCare but doesn't want Medicaid expansion

2 | Apr. 01, 2013 | Legislature, Medicaid-CHIP

Prominent politicians born in log cabins weren’t that common even in the old days. Before House Speaker Ray Merrick came along, Kansas hadn’t had one since Charles Curtis, the long-time U.S. senator who went on to become vice president under Herbert Hoover.

More in Health Information Technology and Exchange News