Press Release - The Osborne Group
Get Ready to Change Healthcare in The Verde Valley.
COTTONWOOD, ARIZONA – JULY 14, 2008
Central Arizona and the Verde Valley lead the way in effecting true change in healthcare. The Osborne Group begins the setup of the first large scale health information exchange site in Rural Arizona.
The cost of healthcare is driven by many factors. One of the biggest factors is the amount of money spent by providers and healthcare systems to administer healthcare services to patients. Technology is the key component in driving those costs down so that more financial resources can be allocated to the patients and healthcare providers. Rural Arizona is plagued by a lack of resources in the Healthcare sector. Too often a patient does not receive the medical treatment they need, and more and more frequently healthcare providers are choosing to leave Rural Arizona to practice elsewhere. The needs of patients and healthcare providers in the area have been neglected for too long – the time for state of the art technology combined with patient centric healthcare for all has arrived, and Health Information Exchange is providing the necessary foundation to advance those needs.
In February of 2007, The Osborne Group launched a strategic initiative to look at why the healthcare systems in Rural Arizona were failing; Failing to provide access to healthcare services to patients at the most basic levels – such as Primary Care, failing to support healthcare providers in providing healthcare services to patients and failing to take advantage of new technology that creates jobs and promotes cost-savings in Healthcare. After over a year of research and hundreds of meetings the answer is simple – the cost to do business in healthcare is too much, and the number of healthcare providers is too little.
Healthcare is an ever-changing environment, patients and healthcare providers are forced to keep up with changes all of the time. They are without the guidance and support necessary to keep up with the never ending and costly changes; also Rural Arizona and the Verde Valley have had very little input in the direction of healthcare at a state or federal level.
The Osborne Group identified that the next frontier in medicine, Electronic Medical Records, and the need to digitally document and exchange such medical records is already upon us.
Instead of waiting for the government bureaucracies and insurance companies to tell patients and healthcare providers what to do, The Osborne Group organized the necessary partners to begin moving forward in a smart and strategic manner. Most healthcare providers are struggling to keep their doors open currently in the Verde Valley, so cost was a very important consideration. Also, keeping control of the electronic medical records in the hands of patients and healthcare providers was very important as well and finally sustainability and impact on the community was discussed. Around the country many have tried and failed to create what will now be a reality in Rural Arizona. Millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on health information exchange projects across the country. The need in Rural Arizona is too great and time is critical, we know we cannot fail.
Beginning July 14, 2008 the North & Central Arizona Health Information Exchange will launch in Cottonwood, Arizona with the capacity to service more than 250 healthcare providers and thousands of patients across central and northern Arizona. Dozens of jobs will be created and numerous other benefits will be brought to our communities. Finally Rural Arizona has a voice in healthcare!
Look for more details in the coming days and ways you can become involved.
Contact: Denys Parks, President (928) 639-2156, dparks@osbornegroup.org