NAME OF NETWORK  
Thumb Region CAH-HIT Network

Name of Grantee
Michigan Department of Community Health

Principal Investigator/Project Manager
Donald A. Wheeler, FACHE

Address 2180 Commons Parkway Okemos, MI  48864               
Phone 517-347-8917
Fax 517-347-8950
Organizational Website wwrhcc.org            
E-mail DAWheeler77@AOL.com  

Project Purpose
The purpose of Michigan’s FLEX CAH-HIT project is to create an effective health data exchange between two Critical Access Hospitals and their tertiary referral center, in order to improve the safety, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care delivery through a full continuum of care.  The two Critical Access Hospitals include Deckerville Community Hospital in Sanilac County and Harbor Beach Community Hospital in Huron County, while the primary tertiary partner has yet to be selected from 3 possible facilities that serve the region. An existing 16-member “Thumb Rural Health Network” is providing governance and oversight of the project.  The proposed HIT Network planning and implementation activities of this project will be used as a template for adoption and/or expansion to Michigan’s other Critical Access Hospitals, as well as those in other states.

Outcome Measures/Expectations
Specific goals of the Network currently include: (1) Use HIT as a tool to improve the safety, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care delivery in the Thumb region of Michigan; (2) Adopt the effective use of a clinical information system through an integrated system with a common architecture; (3) Create sustainable business model for deploying HIT in the Thumb region; (4) Improve the quality and performance of our organizations both individually and jointly; (5) Improve healthcare quality through the elimination of handwritten clinical data; (6) Successfully deploy or enable the deployment of hospital HIT practices that reduce medical errors and improve overall patient safety; (7) Increase the identification and reporting of medical errors and adverse events; (8) Develop HIT systems that support the regional collection and assessment of patient care data as part of the Michigan Critical Access Hospital Program’s Quality Committee for the measurement of healthcare quality; (9) Enhance the Network’s ability to collect data regarding the impact of HIT on healthcare outcomes, improving patient safety and quality of care; (10) Identify and support local and regional HIT collaborative projects that lead to standards-based data sharing across healthcare delivery sites; and (11) Share our HIT implementation experiences with other organizations and networks. 

Service Area
The service area for the “Thumb Region CAH-HIT Network” lies on the eastern Lake Huron shoreline of Michigan’s “thumb” region.
Target Region For the Thumb CAH-HIT Network

Network Members
The two Critical Access Hospitals include Deckerville Community Hospital in Sanilac County and Harbor Beach Community Hospital in Huron County.  The tertiary-level partner has yet to be selected from three possible facilities that serve the region.  The Network is seeking to identify an “open architecture” that will enable connectivity to all tertiary facilities serving the region.

The Thumb region of Michigan is surrounded by six potential tertiary referral hospitals including Covenant Medical Center in Saginaw, Saginaw St Mary's Hospital, Bay Medical Center in Bay City, Genesys Health System in Flint, and Mercy Hospital or Port Huron Hospital in Port Huron (in the lower right corner of the map, just below Gardendale).  All these tertiary hospitals are geographically remote (45 to 90 minutes driving time) from the rural service area.
The Thumb Rural health Network (TRHN) is a 16-member organization located in the rural counties of Huron, Sanilac and Tuscola, typically referred to as Michigan’s “Thumb.”  TRHNs membership includes seven Critical Access Hospitals and one sole-community provider; two health departments; six tertiary hospitals surrounding the region; and one Multipurpose Collaborating Council.

There are no Federally Qualified Health Centers or Certified Rural Health Clinics in the targeted service area.  The two CAH facilities operate 3 primary care clinics in the region that will be included in the HIT systems developed at those hospitals. 

Both the Huron County and the Sanilac County Health Departments serve the target region. Together, these health departments provide health screening, preventions and surveillance services as required by state and federal mandates.  Most of the surveillance reporting is provided for through “on-line” reporting systems operated by the state of Michigan.  Their need for interaction with hospitals focuses on the receipt of “reportable disease” incidents and on the need to alert health providers about regional/local health risks. 

Equipment/Vendors or Collaborative Partners
Operating systems being used at by the CAHs: CPSI at Harbor Beach;

Health Information Exchange - No equipment or vendors have been chosen at this time.  Vendors responding to our RFP include Microsoft, Open HRE, First Gateway. Klinitek’s UPCare and Covisent.  We expect to select the HIE vendor by May 2008.

Go to: Top | HRSA | HHS | Disclaimer | Accessibility | Privacy