Healthcare Technology Featured Article

September 16, 2011

RHIO Wins Outstanding Program Award from Texas Rural Health Association


West Texas Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) has just received an Outstanding Program Award from the Texas Rural Health Association for its innovative use of information technology. The prestigious award was presented at the Texas Rural Health Forum, held in San Antonio, Texas.

West Texas RHIO’s program was initiated by four hospitals under the guidance of founders Ted Matthews, Nathan Tudor, Randy King and Rick DeFoore. These professionals implemented the same remotely hosted EHR system ad enabled the rural hospitals wanting to tap into the benefits of EHRs.

The participating hospitals are also working to maximize efficiency by standardizing training, protocols, procedures and policies. Since its inception in 2010, the West Texas RHIO has grown from its original four hospitals including Anson General Hospital, Stamford Memorial Hospital, Stonewall Memorial Hospital and Throckmorton County Memorial Hospital to a total of eight hospitals including Eastland Memorial Hospital, Hamlin Memorial Hospital, Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital and Seymour Hospital.

"This program clearly demonstrates how technology can be used to improve care in rural Texas communities. What's really impressive, though, is how these hospitals came together in a spirit of cooperation to overcome some of common obstacles that stand in the way when rural organizations try to tap into powerful systems such as electronic health records," said Paula Winkler, TRHA board member and chairman of the 2011 TRHA Award Selection Committee, in a statement. "The fact that they have been able to experience success in such a short period of time proves that with the right technology and the right implementation model, all hospitals can truly experience the benefits of electronic health records. In tough times like these, we need more cooperation for the common good and certainly the RHIO has assisted toward that end."

"The West Texas RHIO illustrates how progressive organizations with visionary leaders can take advantage of information technology to vastly improve care in their communities," said Ramsey Evans, CEO of Prognosis. "We are offering the 'disruptive innovation' that makes it possible for healthcare organizations that had formerly been left on the wrong side of the digital divide to realize all of the clinical and operational benefits associated with electronic health records. Instead of vainly trying to implement multi-million dollar, client server systems -- which can take years to get up and running -- we are offering an affordable web-native alternative that can be implemented in just 120 days."


Rahul Arora is a HealthTechZone contributor. He has worked as an editor and freelance writer for several reputed organizations in India. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]




SHARE THIS ARTICLE



FREE eNewsletter

Click here to receive your targeted Healthcare Technology Community eNewsletter.
[Subscribe Now]