1. Announcing the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Rural Health Information Technology (HIT) Grant Program - Year Seven
Letter of Intent Deadline: Received no later than 5 pm, Friday, May 23, 2008 Funding Period:September 15, 2008 - February 15, 2010
The Center for Rural Health, University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences is pleased to announce that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (BCBSND) will offer a seventh year of funding for their rural health grant program.
BCBSND seeks projects that demonstrate collaborative efforts involving rural health care facilities and whose measurable outcomes improve access, safety, quality, effectiveness and efficiency of health services to the population residing in rural North Dakota. As in past years, proposed grant programs must address the high priority health needs of a rural population through the planning and implementation of an HIT infrastructure.
Total amount of funds available is $400,000. The individual awards will be made on a competitive basis to successful applicant(s). It is anticipated that five to seven grants ranging from $40,000 to $65,000 will be awarded. The committee will consider grants of greater amount if an applicant is applying on behalf of a network of healthcare facilities, and the request will support the HIT infrastructure for the network. Preference will be given to applicants that propose to work collaboratively with healthcare facilities that are not all owned by one main organization.
2. North Dakota Health Information Technology (HIT) Environmental Scan to be Conducted
In exploring what other states are doing to support the adoption of HIT the North Dakota HIT Steering Committee members recognized that we do not have a clear picture with regard to the implementation and/or planning for health information technology. Although we know anecdotally, we do not have current data to substantiate the need which is vital when competing for grants and/or pursuing potential state and federal legislation to support the adoption of HIT.
Therefore, the Center for Rural Health (CRH), on behalf of the North Dakota HIT Steering Committee, will be distributing surveys (electronically) to administrators of all North Dakota (urban/rural) hospitals, clinics and LTC facilities. The hospital survey will be distributed next week, with clinics and LTC to follow.
The information gathered via the surveys will be used to inform the development of next steps when the HIT Steering Committee and Stakeholder Groups meet in Bismarck, early June. In addition, the results will be incorporated in to a statewide report that will be shared with Governor Hoeven, state legislators; the Vision and Strategy Group for North Dakota's Healthcare System and others upon request.
Who is the North Dakota HIT Steering Committee? This committee began as a result of the North Dakota HIT Summit held in April, 2006. As a result of the 2007 Legislative Session the committee was codified as the "North Dakota HIT Steering Committee." The Steering Committee consists of 21 members representing the public and private sector. In addition five work groups have been formed with over 40 additional participants - 1) Funding/Resources; 2) Legislative/Policy; 3) Communication/Education; 4) Privacy/Security and 5) Health Information Exchange-HIE. For more information on the Steering Committee and the work groups go to the following website http://ruralhealth.und.edu/projects/sorh/hit.php
The mission of the Steering Committee is to facilitate the adoption and use of HIT and exchange to improve the health care quality, patient safety and overall efficiency of health care and public health service in North Dakota.
The environmental scan project is supported by the HRSA, Office of Rural Health Policy, State Office of Rural Health (SORH) grant program.
For more information contact: Lynette Dickson, MS LRD; CRH Program Director/Chair - North Dakota HIT Steering Committee 701-777-6049 ldickson@medicine.nodak.edu
This service is provided by the Rural Hospital Flexibility
Grant Program Steering Committee (Center for Rural Health, North Dakota Department
of Health, and the North Dakota Healthcare Association). It is supported by
the federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services
Administration, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. Contact Marlene Miller at (701) 777-4499 with questions or comments.
