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 Mike Shields

Kansas health information authority outlined

Non-profit corporation likely to spring from a governor's executive order

0 | HIE-HIT

Members of the e-Health Advisory Council heard details about a proposed board that would oversee the state's health information exchange efforts.

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

0 | 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

Kansas gets federal HIE grant

0 | Feb. 12, 2010 | HIE-HIT

More than $9 million in federal stimulus fund money is coming to Kansas to help launch a statewide electronic health information exchange.

Kansas health information authority outlined

0 | Feb. 09, 2010 | HIE-HIT

Members of the e-Health Advisory Council heard details about a proposed board that would oversee the state's health information exchange efforts.

e-Health group wants changes to privacy protection laws

0 | Jan. 14, 2010 | HIE-HIT

The group working to develop a statewide health information exchange will soon be asking the Legislature for a solution to what attorneys called “a patchwork” of inconsistent patient privacy protection laws that they said would hinder the digital sharing of health information among medical providers. But members of the e-Health Advisory Council agreed to wait until next year to seek legislative approval of a non-profit, public-private corporation to oversee and manage a Kansas health information exchange.

HIE expert talks to e-health council

0 | Dec. 16, 2009 | HIE-HIT

The “holy grail” of digital health information exchange will be the use of the resulting data to drive new medical discoveries and effective treatments. Widespread use of the technology done right also will help control health care costs, e-Health Advisory Council members were told.

e-Health Advisory Council to hear from Arizona expert

0 | Dec. 15, 2009 | HIE-HIT

The panel developing a plan for a digital, statewide health information exchange is scheduled to meet Wednesday and then again Jan. 14.

Ways and Means subcommittee finishes KHPA and SRS budgets

0 | Mar. 11, 2010 | KHPA, SRS, Legislature

Some of the Legislature's strongest supporters of early childhood development programs signed off on sharp cuts in children's programs, re-emphasizing the signal from Senate GOP leaders that tax increases will be necessary.

Teens describe the foster care experience

0 | Mar. 09, 2010 | Children, SRS, Legislature

“My mother had a habit of leaving me – when I was 10 years old -- with my four brothers and sisters while my dad was in rehab for a week or two at a time,” Rachel Perkins, 19, said Monday during testimony before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.

Law enforcement officials urged to train for dealing with the mentally ill

0 | Feb. 01, 2010 | SRS, Mental Health

With police often called upon to deal with the mentally ill, special training is called for to help defuse tense situations before they become violent.

Disabled want faster movement off waiting list

0 | Mar. 10, 2010 | Advocacy, Legislature, Medicaid-CHIP

Advocates for the disabled stuck 58 crosses in the ground outside the Statehouse in an effort to call attention to the 58 who have died while on the state's waiting list for Medicaid-funded in-home services.

Ways and Means Committee agrees to cuts in social services

0 | Mar. 11, 2010 | KHPA, SRS, Legislature

The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Thursday upheld proposed cuts in the budgets of the Kansas Health Policy Authority and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

Soda pop tax up Wednesday in Senate panel

0 | Mar. 10, 2010 | Legislature, Nutrition

A bill that would tax makers or first vendors of soda pop and other sugary drinks at 1 cent per teaspoon of sugar is scheduled to be heard Wednesday by the Senate Assessment & Taxation Committee

Kansas Supreme Court to rule on malpractice case

1 | Mar. 02, 2010 | Health Care Delivery, Hospitals

Medical providers and others are anxiously waiting to see what the Kansas Supreme Court will do about the state's $250,000 cap on awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases.

Seniors' mental health needs often unmet

1 | Feb. 16, 2010 | Community Health, Legislature, Workforce

“We’re not reaching the people we need to be reaching with our existing programs,” said Steve Denny, who runs an outreach program for seniors at the Independence-based Four County Mental Health Center.

State mental hospitals packed

1 | Feb. 04, 2010 | Legislature, Hospitals, Mental Health

Jails getting the overflow.

Push for tighter day care licensing questioned

1 | Feb. 02, 2010 | Child Health, Legislature

Legislators this week are holdings hearings on a proposal that would mean stricter standards for some home day care centers.

Mental health system close to collapse, center directors say

1 | Jan. 25, 2010 | SRS, Legislature, Mental Health

Last year, nine of the state’s 27 community mental health centers spent more money than they took in.

Governor calls for sales and tobacco tax increases

1 | Jan. 11, 2010 | Legislature

Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, unveiled key details of a budget plan that calls for raising the state sales tax one cent and boosting tobacco taxes to forestall deeper cuts to schools and to roll back cuts in Medicaid provider rates. But Republican leaders said it would be a bad idea to raise taxes during a recession.

More in Health Information Technology and Exchange News