0 Toolkit Overview of EHR and HIE Tools for Home Health Agencies

Section 0.1 Overview

Toolkit Overview of EHR and HIE Tools for Home Health Agencies

This overview will help you understand how to use the Home Health Agency - Health Information Technology Toolkit.

Time needed: 1 hour or less
Suggested other tools: NA

Introduction

This toolkit is designed to help people who work in Home Health select and implement e-health. Specifically, it focuses on helping you implement and use electronic health records (EHRs) and health information exchange (HIE).

Toolkit Organization

We’ve organized the toolkit based on a progression that has been proven for more than 10 years to work for organizations that are adopting technology, like EHRs. That progression is:

Assess – figure out what you need
Plan – establish plans to guide you on this journey
Select – choose software/hardware solutions and vendors, negotiate with vendors, and sign contracts
Implement – install the software/hardware solution and start to use. Test the solution and train staff.
Maintain – keep the new solution up and running
Optimize – gain more benefits from the solution

Definition

The Home Health HIT Toolkit is designed for use by home health agencies providing home care services, which are delivered in a place of residence to a person whose illness, disability, or physical condition creates a need for the service.

These home care services include: nursing services, including the services of a home health aide; physical therapy; speech therapy; respiratory therapy; occupational therapy; nutritional services; medical social services; and the provision of medical supplies and equipment when accompanied by the provision of a home care service.

Home care services do not include communicable disease investigations or testing, administering or monitoring a prescribed therapy necessary to control or prevent a communicable disease, or the monitoring of an individual's compliance with a health directive.[1]

Figuring Out Which Tools to Use

We know you don’t want to spend time on unnecessary steps. However, we’ve seen many organizations that fail (spend a lot of money and not get what they need to help their clients) because they rush into implementing without completing important steps.

We have created three aids to help you find the right tools for your needs.

Section-Level Tool Listings – For each of the sections of the toolkit (Assess, Plan, Select, etc.) you can click on a link: View/Hide (section name) Tools. The list you will view gives information about each document. You can then select tools that you believe are most important to you. The picture below shows you this listing for the Assess Section.

Experience Level Symbols - These green circles, blue boxes, and black diamonds indicate which tools are best based on the resources and experience of the organization:

Document-Level Information – Each tool has an introduction, an estimate of time needed, and a suggested other tools section. By reading this information you can be certain you have the right tools for your unique challenges.

How to Use the Tools

Review the lists of tools by clicking on the View/Hide link in each section of the toolkit. Start with the first section – Assess and move through the sections in order.
Look at the Experience Level Symbols and select documents that match your organization’s experience and resources.
Click on the tools in a section and open them. Read the Introduction, the Time needed, and the Suggested other tools. Read a bit farther into the tool so that you understand it. Note:
All tools are Microsoft Word or Excel documents
For a first view, you may not want to save the document – just view it in your browser
Later, save the tools you are going to use on a local drive – that way you can save the work you do in the tool
Decide for each section, which tools you will use. For each section, we recommend that you review all of the tools and then decide which to use, then proceed to the next section to review those tools and decide what to use. Some toolkit users like to print out all the tools they’ll be using and put them in a 3-ring binder. This is a great idea, since you’ll have a tangible book of tools you can work through.

How the Toolkit Sections Aid You in Planning and Implementing

Assess Section: This section provides tools to start using the HIT Toolkit and to kick off your e-health planning process. This section includes surveys, inventories, or assessments of your staff’s current attitudes toward information technology, computer skills, technical infrastructure, and the readiness of potential HIE partners to exchange health information. Many of these tools will be used throughout your e-health project.
Plan Section: This section emphasizes the importance of planning. Early planning steps include creating a communication plan. You’ll also find project management tools that help engage your staff in visioning, goal setting, managing change, specifying requirements, and prioritizing projects. Many of these tools will be used throughout the remainder of your e-health project.

Unfortunately, many HIT vendors do not put a lot of emphasis on supporting the planning effort. They focus on selling and installing systems then move on to the next customer. Thus, the onus for the majority of planning is on the buyer. Remember the saying, “buyer beware” (caveat emptor!)

Select Section: This section helps you understand the HIT marketplace and conduct vendor selection and contracting. In some cases, a corporate entity may select a vendor for you. However, many of the assessment, planning, implementation and optimizing use tools will remain useful. Corporate likely doesn’t know your people and your challenges as well as you.
Implement Section: This section builds upon the foundation established in the earlier sections. Implement tools help address tactical issues —from sample project plans to issues logs, training plans, testing plans, chart conversion techniques, and many others. These tools also stress the importance of adopting technical, terminology, and process standards needed for HIE, and ultimately, coordination of care.
Maintain Section: This section has tools that help you keep your HIT running smoothly. Your EHR must be kept current—with software updates, security patches, new drug updates, and other best practice information. Maintenance also includes monitoring use of the technology to ensure value is achieved from EHR and HIE.
Optimize Section: This section has tools designed to help you focus on specific functionality within EHR and HIE in order to gain optimal value. Over time, users will want to fine-tune their skills and explore ways to improve their use of the EHR and HIE.

Using the Toolkit

You can access all the tools in this toolkit and other toolkits from the Stratis Health Web site, Tools are listed in the order in which you might use them during an e-health planning, selection, and implementation project.

A timeline is not included because these projects can be variable in scope. You may only need a few tools and a short timeframe to acquire a small, localized application. If you are planning a major system acquisition, many or all of the tools may be useful, and the project will extend over a longer period of time. You may already have some technology and just want to build upon, or optimize, its use. While an overall organizational strategy is strongly recommended and supported through use of all tools in the toolkit, you will want to construct your own timeline based on what applications, technology, and operations activities you are undertaking.

Section 0 Overview—Toolkit Overview of EHR and HIE Tools for Home Health Agencies - 1

[1] Adapted from Minnesota Statute 144AA.43 Subd. 3 www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=144A.43