Vermont Governor Jim Douglas will tour the Rutland Regional Medical Center's emergency department to see the new service in action, and to highlight the role of information technology in improving health care quality and controlling costs.
Douglas is the co-chair of the State Alliance for e-Health, an initiative of the National Governors Association which brings together governors, attorneys general, state legislators, insurance commissioners and other experts to address state-level health information technology issues. The governor has also made reducing health care costs a key component of his Affordability Agenda -- a comprehensive plan to reduce the cost of living, working and raising a family in Vermont.
The medication history service developed in Vermont is considered the most effective in the country because of its high level of data availability. Medication data is available on 75 percent of the patients visiting the emergency department, due to the unprecedented cooperation of major payers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, MVP Healthcare, and the Vermont Medicaid program.
The medication history service is offered by Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL), Montpelier, Vt., a not-for-profit public-private partnership. GE Healthcare, South Burlington, Vt., developed the service for VITL and provides maintenance and support for the hospitals. Rutland Regional Medical Center and Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury are the first two hospitals in Vermont to implement the new electronic medication history service in their emergency departments. The service will be rolled out to other hospitals in the state over the next year.
