West Virginia's Statewide Health Information Technology Strategic Plan

Over the past several months I have been involved with a group in developing West Virginia's statewide strategic plan for health information technology.

The final draft of the West Virginia Health Information Technology Statewide Strategic Plan, September 2009 is now available for review and comment. Additional comments and feedback on the strategic plan are welcome.

The strategic plan is a part of West Virginia's efforts to position itself as a national leader in implementing and adopting health information technology to improve our health care system. The strategic plan will be a part of the the state's efforts to submit applications to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) for funding under the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program and the Health Information Technology Extension Program: Regional Centers Cooperative Agreement Program, both programs developed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Title XIII - Health Information Technology, Subtitle B.

The project has been lead by the Adoption of Health Information Technology Workgroup under the West Virginia Health Improvement Institute. Both private and public stakeholders from across West Virginia have collaborated and provided input into the development of the strategic plan.

West Virginia Health Improvement Institute

The West Virginia Health Improvement Institute has launched its website that provides an overview of the efforts to improve the health care system in West Virginia.

The mission of the Institute is to assist with the execution of the strategies outlined in the Transformation Grants awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. One main focus is on migrating primary care in West Virginia to the medical home model. The "About WVHII" has more about the Institute - what it is? why it's needed? its structure? etc.

As a part of the project I am chairing one of the four workgroups, the work group on the Adoption of Health Information Technology. The other work groups are:

• Measurement/Reporting/Reimbursement
• Provider Outreach and Education
• Self Management

The Adoption of Health Information Technology work group's efforts will be focused on understanding what health information technology is currently being used successfully by providers in West Virginia. We will be looking at opportunities to innovate and participate in projects that help to accelerate the adoption of technology, including that which supports the medical home model.

For more information on our work group and the other three work groups - check out the Workgroups section.