White House Event: St.Vincent and Wishard physicians to represent Indiana during White House Health IT Town Hall

Central Indiana Beacon Community leaders recognized nationally as
leaders in healthcare technology innovation

Media Contacts:
Molly Butters // Indiana Health Information Exchange, Inc. // 317-735-4082 // mbutters@ihie.org //
Jennifer Dial // St.Vincent // 317-583-4031 // jkdial@stvincent.org
Michelle O’Keefe // Wishard Health Services // 317-630-6863 // Michelle.Okeefe@wishard.edu

Indianapolis, Ind., June 19, 2012 – Dr. Lisa Harris, CEO and Medical Director for Wishard Health Services, and Dr. Alan Snell, Chief Medical Informatics Officer for St.Vincent Health, are two of 82 healthcare providers from across the country whose progress in health IT will be recognized by the White House and Health and Human Services (HHS) at a Health IT Town Hall event in Washington, D.C. today.

During the Town Hall, senior White House and HHS officials will discuss progress and barriers to a national health IT system and the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). Dr. Harris and Dr. Snell and other healthcare providers will share their insights on the important role that health IT programs, such as the Beacon Community Program, have played in helping them implement EHRs and support health care improvements through IT-enabled interventions.

“I am honored to join Dr. Snell in representing the Indiana Health Information Exchange and the Central Indiana Beacon Community at the White House,” said Dr. Harris. “Indiana is recognized as a national leader in health IT. I look forward to sharing how what we’re doing right here in our community is helping to enhance the effectiveness, quality, efficiency and safety of health care delivered across the country.”

Under the leadership of Dr. Harris and Dr. Snell, Wishard and St.Vincent have been active participants in the Central Beacon Community Program since its launch in 2010. Efforts in the 46-county Central Indiana Beacon Community region are centrally organized by the Indiana Health Information Exchange, with funding from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). The goals of the program are to drive improvements for patients and the community by supporting:

• better chronic disease management
• better utilization of healthcare services
• timely preventative care services
• meaningful use of health information technology
• a real-world national health IT model that achieves measurable and sustainable improvements

“Dr. Harris and Dr. Snell are trailblazers for improving healthcare through the implementation of innovative health IT solutions,” said Harold J. Apple, CEO and President of IHIE. “We are fortunate to have such dedicated health advocates in Indiana committed to establishing a health information exchange model for the nation.”

The funded-portion of the three-year Beacon Community Program is still months away from completion; however, early results in Central Indiana are showing positive signs of improvements. For example, one of the program’s targets is to increase the percentage of patients receiving colorectal cancer screenings.

In March 2010, prior to the Beacon program, 57.54 percent of the measured population received the necessary procedure. As of December 31, 2011, more than 66 percent of patients who needed the test were screened, representing an 8.5 percent increase.

“It is an honor to be invited with Dr. Lisa Harris, and nearly 100 experts in health IT, to join the staff of the Office of the National Coordinator of health IT,” said Dr. Snell. “I look forward to hearing stories of how health IT is improving the care and lives of millions of Americans today. It is an exciting opportunity to exchange ideas with leaders from across the country, and to learn more about the future direction of ONC to deploy more technology, and further connect healthcare consumers to their providers.”

About the Beacon Community Program

The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program is part of a larger movement to modernize healthcare that demonstrates how health IT investments and Meaningful Use of EHRs advance the vision of patient-centered care, while achieving the three-part aim of better health, better care at lower cost. The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is providing $250 million over three years to 17 selected communities throughout the United States that have already made inroads in the development of secure, private, and accurate systems of EHR adoption and health information exchange. Each of the communities, with its unique population and regional context, is actively pursuing the following areas of focus:

• Building and strengthening the health IT infrastructure and exchange capabilities within communities, positioning each community to pursue a new level of sustainable health care quality and efficiency over the coming years;
• Translating investments in health IT in the short run to measurable improvements in cost, quality and population health; and
• Developing innovative approaches to performance measurement, technology and care delivery to accelerate evidence generation for new approaches.

These investments are part of a larger movement to modernize health care, and will position communities to achieve measurable improvements in population health, care and cost, and succeed in a transformed payment environment. To learn more about EHR adoption, meaningful use and other areas of health IT, visit www.healthit.gov.