New (4-13-07): Montana HIT Task Force

Montana HIT Task Force

Montana HIT Taskforce is a newly incorporating organization that has grown out of a grassroots effort to increase the use of health information technology in Montana.

It began as the Montana HIT Task Force, a grassroots coalition initially created by U.S. Senator Max Baucus as a result of his desire to improve healthcare for Montanans.  This diverse group of healthcare leaders began meeting in late 2005 to discuss ways to facilitate and accelerate the implementation of HIT and HIE across the state of Montana in an effort to improve the safety and quality of healthcare and eventually lower the cost of its delivery.  Mountain-Pacific Quality Health provided facilitation that helped the coalition develop into a structured organization.

The Task Force stakeholders met on January 19 th, 2007, in Helena, Montana.  A Steering Committee was elected on that date and was tasked with organizing the entity into a Montana public benefit corporation by early spring.  Also at that meeting, final plans were made to approach the 2007 Montana Legislature to request funds for several projects involving statewide implementation of personal health records, statewide health information exchange, and a program to provide technical assistance to physicians as they begin to implement electronic health records in their offices.

The Montana Office of Rural Health is providing staff support and hosting a website for Health-e Montana in this organizational phase. The HIT Legislative Request provides detailed information about Health-e Montana and plans for the future.

Montana HIT Task Force
Executive Committee Members

Steering Committee Members

The above listed Steering Committee members were elected at a statewide meeting of the Montana HIT Task Force on January 19, 2007. * = Executive Committee as of 3/28/2007

Health Information Technology

The Montana Office of Rural Health is a source of information about what is happening with HIT in the state and nation. Montana has federally funded local initiatives, region health information exchange projects, local electronic health record collaboratives, and a statewide HIT Task Force. For a report on what is happening in Montana, click here.

The Montana Office of Rural Health is funded by Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ORHP has taken on the responsibility of developing a rural policy strategy and technical assistance program for rural HIT adoption. The Rural Health Resource Center (RHRC), which manages the Critical Access Hospital Technical Assistance Service Center, is working with ORHP to support rural HIT efforts.

State Offices of Rural Health, including the Montana Office of Rural Health, are working with ORHP and RHRC to provide information, technical assistance, and support to rural HIT efforts. Some things to know include:

"Health Information Technology: A Rural Providers Roadmap to Quality Conference" was held in September and attended by several healthcare providers and rural health organizations in Montana. It was sponsored by ORHP and organized by RHRC. http://www.securemcking.com/hrsa/rural/

"A Roadmap for Adoption of Health Information Technology in Rural Communities" was published in August, commissioned by the ORHP. It provides in-depth guides and information for rural communities. http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/issues/HIT_Paper_Final.pdf

The Rural Assistance Center, funded by ORHP and DHHS, is an excellent and easy to use resource on health information technology. http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/healthtech/

"The Current Status of Health Information Technology Use in Critical Access Hospitals" was published by the RHRC in May. http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/BriefingPaper11_HIT.pdf

For information on these and other resources, contact of the Montana Office of Rural Health.

Imagining the Digital Healthcare Future in the Rural West - Conference Presentations

Mountain-Pacific Quality Health (Montana’s Quality Improvement Organization)

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 6/15/2007