CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials with the West Virginia Health Information Network want to raise awareness regarding the state’s evolution of healthcare technology in honor of National Health IT Week that runs through Friday.
Amber Nary, the business development manager of WVHIN, said technology has continued to grow throughout the Mountain State with more patient data and information being exchanged digitally.
“We have over 17 hospitals connected statewide to the network where patient information follows the patient,” said Nary about the three hospitals they initially started out with. “Patients no longer have to carry around paper medical records with them.”
Nary said securing the exchange of digital patient data is all about improving the healthcare system.
“We’re trying to make it easier on the public and patient to make sure that your data follows you no matter where you go throughout the state,” she said.
Studies have shown that when providers have access to patient information, in real time, better treatment decisions are made, said Nary.
“When a provider has access to a patient’s allergies or medications they’ve been prescribed, that information is power,” she said.
Nary said the network is trying to integrate all electronic health record systems. For that reason, she said they face challenges such as limited broadband internet access in some rural areas and the cost of the technology.
According to a news release, the WVHIN has been working to connect the medical providers of West Virginia to one query based network since 2012. The network has over three hundred organizations utilizing the WVHIN’s direct messaging system, WVDirect and nearly 100 organizations with access to the state e-Directive Registry.