$1.3 Million Grant Moves SW Va. Medicine Into the Future

The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (VTICRC) has announced a $1.3 million grant to the Scott County Economic Development Authority. The grant will be used to provide electronic medical records capability to 37 Virginia Department of Health locations in Southwest Virginia.

The grant, approved on July 30, is matched by an investment of $2.5 million by OnePartner, who will be responsible for creating the database and software for medical records-keeping.

“This is just another example of how the Commission has been able to maximize their funds and also continue to not just bring Southwest Virginia to a level playing field with the rest of the Country, but actually surpass the rest of the Country in the realm of EMR infrastructure,” stated Delegate Terry Kilgore, Vice Chairman of the Virginia Tobacco Commission.

OnePartner’s first steps will be to work with the Virginia Department of Health propose a solution that identifying the most appropriate ambulatory EMR system. Once selected, the EMR infrastructure will be installed and hosted at the OnePartner Advanced Technology & Applications Center (ATAC) located in Duffield, Va.

Within the grant specifications, OneParter will provide the training and support to initially launch the EMR system at two to-be-determined health department locations. Future OnePartner efforts will expand the EMR program to the remaining 35 health departments.
Tom Deaderick, director of OnePartner, says the complete EMR solution is “a truly novel approach.”

“There are some very good reasons why EMR adoption has been stagnant. Comparing any two EMR systems is very challenging. There really is a lack of consistency between vendor’s service offerings. Throw in different pricing plans, additional required software and all the different hardware required to create a secure, production-ready system and you have a Gordian Knot of a puzzle and no one with the objectivity and experience to help decide between them. I think there are a lot of reasons why the adoption rate has held at 20% for years, but I don’t blame physicians. They’ve been asked to make a very complicated decision knowing that many EMR implementations have failed and knowing that switching from one system to another is nearly impossible. None of these factors is conducive to quick decisions.”

“This project is a critical building block in a much larger dream for us,” continues Deaderick. “The EMR system we bring online for the Department of Health will be the first of a whole menu of EMR options, with consistent and simple pricing for private practice physicians and larger organizations, based on a unique co-operative model where every new physician decreases the monthly cost for all the physicians using the system .There is no need for physicians to spend money to build out office infrastructure when they can securely share the infrastructure already here, with a near-turn-key model.”
“We have an opportunity to really contribute to the health and economic vitality of our region with this grant and we’re not going to waste it,” says Deaderick.