Chiropractic Offices - HIT

Health Information Technology Toolkit for Chiropractic Offices

The Health Information Technology Toolkit for Chiropractic Offices helps chiropractors through the process of selecting the right health information technology (HIT) and electronic health record (EHR) system for their offices—their workflow and their care delivery needs.

HIT changes the processes used to provide care. Unlike basic office software for word processing and billing which are ancillary tools, an EHR becomes part of your care delivery. Selecting the right system for the way you provide care means doing the work to fully understand your needs and how technology can fit your workflow.

Using the toolkit

The steps for selecting new HIT are the same whether you are a one-person office or part of a larger chiropractic office with a full IT department. The adoption process in the toolkit is based on years of experience working with health care providers. Using this process will help assure that you select the right system that will meet your needs.

We recommend that you scan through every tool in the kit, so you fully understand how the technology will impact your care delivery. Depending on the needs of your office, some tools will be used in depth and some tools may not be applicable. Other tools will build your knowledge of HIT and provide a foundation to converse effectively with EHR vendors. A carefully constructed foundation and the right tools can mean the difference between systems that are not well-used and those that achieve value.

The HIT Toolkit for Chiropractic Offices consists of six stages categorized into four main sections. A complete toolkit index is provided to help you easily find and select the documents and tools you will need for your office size, office staff, or stage you are at in the process. Descriptions of the individual tools are available in the toolkit index and table of contents on the Web pages for each section.

Where do I start?

The HIT Toolkit is designed as a complete resource and guide through each stage of HIT adoption including EHR selection, implementing a system, achieving Meaningful Use, or reselecting an EHR system if you have one that is difficult to use or your office requires an system upgrade. Tools are also available to help maximize use and efficiency of your system, explore health information exchange (HIE) or address any barriers or challenges you may be having. To begin, start by reviewing the best path (aka EHR User Track) that defines your practice office or needs in the table below. Each EHR User Track allows you to preview and choose the materials and resources that are right for your office size – and where you are at in your journey to HIT adoption and EHR

Introduction to Toolkit

Your introduction to effectively using and navigating the tools in the toolkit, including downloadable index and table of contents,

Section 1. Adopt: Assess - Plan - Select

1.1 Assess. The Adopt - Assess section provides tools to start using the HIT Toolkit for Chiropractic Offices. The tools in this section include surveys, inventories, and assessments of your staff's current attitudes toward information technology, computer skills, and technical infrastructure. The tools will help you develop a communication plan and business case, and can be used throughout the remainder of your project.

1.2 Plan. The Adopt - Plan section emphasizes the importance of planning ahead. Investing the time and resources up front will mean spending less time and resources during implementation, and reaping greater value. Don't overlook dependencies or important steps that reduce risk. Many HIT vendors do not support the planning effort, focusing instead on selling and installing systems, and moving on to the next customer. Vendors who recognize the need for a focus on planning have higher customer satisfaction. Yet, the onus for the majority of planning is on the organization.

1.3 Select. The Adopt - Select section helps chiropractic offices understand the marketplace and conduct all aspects of vendor selection and contracting. The extent to which a practice needs to review the marketplace depends on its overall IT strategy. If you are part of a corporate structure, the selection process is performed for you. However, the assessment, planning, implementation, effective use, and exchange tools will still be very important for you to use.

Section 2. Utilize: Implement - Achieving Meaningful Use - Effective Use

2.1 Implement. The Utilize - Implement section builds upon the foundation of the Adopt tools to help you address the specific application, technology, and operational elements that have been acquired for the electronic health record (EHR) system or health information technology (HIT) and will now be implemented. These tools will help with the tactical issues that need to be addressed in any implementation, from sample project plans to issues logs, training plans, testing plans, chart conversion techniques, and more.

2.2 Achieving Meaningful Use. The Utilize - Achieving Meaningful Use section provides tools to help understand Medicare quality measures and incentive requirements.

2.3 Effective Use. The Utilize - Effective Use section provides examples of how tools may be used for specific types of implementations, such as tips for workflow and process improvement for various types of applications (e.g., messaging systems, point-of-care charting, and oversight), as well as resources to support quality measurement reporting.

Section 3. Exchange: Interoperate

3.1 Exchange. The Exchange - Interoperate section provides tools to help you pursue HIE participation, including tools to understand interoperability, HIE architectures, and to prepare for patients' or their families' use of personal health records (PHR).

Section 4. Continue Quality

4.1 Continue Quality. The Continue Quality tools support you in ongoing quality improvement and use of your EHR.

Stratis Health developed the toolkit, tested in the chiropractic office environment, using our extensive experience in helping providers adopt HIT, working with clinics on quality improvement and patient safety, and developing toolkits.

This toolkit was funded by Chiropractic Care of Minnesota, Inc. (ChiroCare) for use by chiropractic offices in Minnesota. Stratis Health developed the toolkit using our extensive experience in helping providers adopt HIT, working with providers on quality improvement and patient safety, and developing toolkits.

Support

Stratis Health has extensive experience in working with health care facilities to help them adopt and utilize EHR systems and to prepare them for exchanging information.

For more information or support using the toolkit, contact:
Stratis Health - Health Information Technology Services
952-854-3306, info@stratishealth.org

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