Who We Are
The Alaska Electronic Health Record Alliance, Inc. was organized in January of 2005. The Board of Directors consists of community members, physicians, and representatives from insurance companies, Premera Blue Cross and Aetna, and medical associations including the Alaska Physicians and Surgeons, the Alaska Chapter of the American College of Physicians, and the Alaska State Medical Association.
What We Want To Do
The group was formed to support the development of affordable, interoperable electronic health records for non-public sector healthcare providers in Alaska. This network will tie together diverse practices, hospitals, and decision support systems to improve clinical practices within the state of Alaska. The Goals of the Alliance are to assist physicians and mid-level providers in incorporating EHRs into their clinical practices by providing support, information, and resources. The ultimate vision includes developing an interoperable network of EHRs for providers in Alaska with the ability to connect to a nationwide, interoperable network. The Alliance is working to obtain funding for the capacity to assist providers by providing support and assistance with the following:
- Vendor selection
- Office redesign
- Training
- Financial Support
What We've Done
Activities through 2008 have included the following:
- holding regularly scheduled meetings to refine our action plan and to continue to be updated on new Health IT developments statewide and nationally
- gathering community support, and
- identifying sources of funding
The board defined the project, established its governance with a working board of directors, incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Alaska, and applied for funding. We have secured grants from the Alaska Telehealth Advisory Council administered by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Providence Health System Alaska, and the State of Alaska through the Alaska eHealth Network. We have also received generous donations from the Alaska Physicians and Surgeons, the Alaska Chapter of the American College of Physicians, The Alaska State Medical Association, the Larry Carr Foundation, First Choice Health, Rasmuson Foundation through the Alaska eHealth Network, and the Alaska Cardiovascular Research Endowment Fund.
Business Plan
Providence Health System Alaska generously provided the funding for development of our business plan, and we hired a healthcare IT consulting firm to assist us (ACS-Healthcare Solutions). The strategy and business plan provide a guide for accomplishing our goals and is being used to persuade other organizations to help fund the project. The Executive Summary is available by clicking here. The complete plan is available by request from Linda at lbooch@gci.net. It is summarized in Next Steps.