What is involved in introducing RecordPoint and/or EPRX into my Community?

Establishing a functional community to deliver health improvement programs using IT tools can be a daunting task. Extensia has been involved for over 8 years in Australia helping communities doing just that. The following mud map provides a scope and guidelines for our recommended approach.

The single most important part of the approach is creating a purpose built group from all the stakeholders to provide the leadership and focus on behalf of the wider community. This group will take on the role of custodian. It is essential for achieving a functional community, that the custodian represent all the stakeholder interests completely and equally.

Extensia fundamentally believe that the shared EHR and EPRX are not an outcome in themselves. These are software tools that are used to efficiently achieve improved health outcomes. The possible outcomes are many and varied. Each community will have a set of burning issues that can be assisted with a shared EHR and/or the EPRX. The custodian will need to decide on the local community needs and issues that will provide the initial focus for the program. It is critical that the program has a simple, clear and measurable objective that resonates with the community stakeholders.

The custodian will identify the most sensible way of funding the community program. To date the programs have typically been funded via an initial grant to establish the systems and undertake the change management required. Subsequent sustainability is then achieved via a mix of participant fees varied according to the value obtained from the program, increased access to Medicare item numbers, and per patient brokerage funds to achieve an outcome.

Extensia will work with the custodian to establish the RecordPoint and EPRX services configured and ready to use. Normally this will involve an up front setup fee and an ongoing monthly service fee.

Once the services are in place and ready to use the custodian provides the leadership and centralised activities necessary to enable the community to start using the systems. There are a number of approaches that require more or less centralised effort. The custodian will identify the most suitable approach for the community and the program. Custodian leadership and activity will generally include the following:

• Custodian to inform and educate the community on the program
• Custodian to organise for the required connections (for example, to setup each health care location)
• Custodian to organise the registration of the users
• Custodian to train the users
• Custodian to monitor and evaluate if the program objectives have been achieved