FOR IMMEDIAGE RELEASE
JUNE 27, 2007
CONTACT:
LYDIA LENKER
615.741.3763 (OFFICE)
615.289.9375 (CELL)
DEAN FLENER
615.532.1921 (OFFICE)
HEALTH CARE CONNECTIVITY IN TENNESSEE
The Technology Readiness study shows 68 percent of urban physicians have a broadband connection, defined as either cable or T1 connection, compared to 43 percent of physicians in semi-rural areas and 17 percent in rural areas. Across the state, 48 percent of physician practices have broadband connections.
“Tennessee is setting the course for eHealth initiatives,” said Bredesen. “As a nation, it’s time we do a better job of leveraging technology to improve the quality of care and hold down costs. This is the real frontier in health care. In Tennessee, we are committed to using health information technology to improve the quality of care available to us all.”
The data will help the Governor’s eHealth Council as it goes forward across Tennessee, county-by-county, with connectivity and ePrescribing initiatives.
“Before we could move forward on other eHealth initiatives, it was important to understand the existing technology and quantify any disparities between urban and rural areas,” said Antoine Agassi, chair of the Governor’s eHealth Council. “This will allow us to continue to fine tune our county-by-county initiative as we work with key partners to accelerate the deployment of eHealth in Tennessee and determine how to best serve the citizens of Tennessee.”
In surveying the differences in technology use between urban and rural counties, the study found 59 percent of overall physician practices still rely primarily on paper records and 21 percent have moved to some version of electronic medical record (EMR). In rural areas, the number using an EMR is 8 percent.
Simultaneously, Dell commissioned a study of consumer opinion on the eHealth Council’s behalf, using Zogby International to assure independent third-party analysis. Dell’s results show Tennesseans are hungry for the quality and cost improvements eHealth technologies can bring to health care.
“The data shows Tennesseans understand that greater use of information technology, such as using electronic health records and ePrescriptions, would improve the quality of care and decrease costs,” said Linda Rebrovick, vice president of health care services for Dell, and a member of the Governor’s eHealth Council. “Dell believes technology is critical to improving the quality and accessibility of care. And we're dedicated to partnering with the Governor's eHealth Council to build a statewide technology infrastructure that is strong, reliable and secure in order to ensure that all citizens have access to the best care at lower costs."”
In 2006, Bredesen issued a challenge to the Tennessee Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (TNHIMSS), an association of health information technology companies, to measure technological readiness among Tennessee’s physicians and hospitals. TNHIMSS assembled a cooperative to conduct the study. Research partners included Tennessee Health Information Management Association, Tennessee Medical Group Management Association, Tennessee Medical Association, Tennessee Hospital Association, Shared Health, Innovation Valley Health Information Network, CareSpark and QSource.
Tennessee has been recognized nationally for its leadership in eHealth. Most recently, the National Governors Association (NGA) selected Bredesen to co-chair the NGA’s State Alliance for eHealth, along with Vermont Governor Jim Douglas.
For more information on the Governor’s eHealth Council and ongoing projects and programs, go to www.tennesseeanytime.org/ehealth. For health care providers interested in participating in later versions of this initiative, TNHIMSS will continue to collect data at http://www.tnhimss.org/survey/survey.html.
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