There was a convergence of rural health leaders in St. Louis at the National Cooperative of Health Networks (NCHN) 2014 Annual Education Conference the week of June 16th. I had been getting ready for this conference for several months as I had the good fortune to be part of the conference planning committee. The volunteer group of planners spent a couple of hours a month together and a good number of hours on our own putting together the details; you can imagine how our time and focus increased as the date approached!
Over 125 rural health network leaders from a diverse variety of structures, types of members and network services came together to learn from each other. The highlight for me was to provide some of the content for the conference with my colleague, Joe Wivoda. We presented interactive and dynamic information on building meaningful and impactful collaborations, network sustainability using a systems framework, and using health information technology (HIT) for improved transitions of care.
There were many other learning opportunities at the Conference. More than five Rural Health Information Technology Network Development (RHITND) program grantees presented to their peers on topics like: implementing a rural health network care coordination service, creating a regional collaboration, making member’s health data meaningful for improvement and sustainability, network development strategic business planning, implementing an electronic population management tool as a network service and transforming member’s health care delivery through better use of data. All of these topics are opportunities for rural health networks to build their own infrastructure and capacity and to develop products and services that their members will value.
Another highlight of the conference was the Innovation Circles. We kicked off the conference by forming small groups to brainstorm and select eight topics that would be both relevant and pertinent for round table discussions; Innovation Circles, held later in the day. A cool thing happened; six Innovation Circles took place with robust discussions and meaningful exchange.
These Innovation Circles truly are incubators by bringing together smart, engaged people to share their experience, knowledge and expertise from diverse networks. This is a powerful equation for creativity and solutions. Some of the topics they discussed included: Patient Engagement and Meaningful Use (MU) Patient Portal Development, Challenges of Care Coordination Across Networks and Systems, Challenges with Rural Staffing, Data Analytics: What and Then How to Measure and Challenges Sharing Health Information Across Uncommon Electronic Health Record (EHR) Platforms. My observation was that those who participated in the Innovation Circles and the education opportunities throughout the conference took away fresh insights, deeper knowledge and new connections. The impact of the NCHN Conference will be ripples of innovation and solutions across our country, and the outcome will be more wellness in our communities!
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