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Horizon Health Care Inc. awarded grant

Horizon Health Care Inc. has been awarded a Rural Information Technology grant of $300,000 annually for three years to fund the Prairie Health Information Technology Network project.

Horizon is a federally qualified community health center which provides affordable, high-quality primary health care at 17 medical and dental clinics in South Dakota.

Its latest medical clinic will open in Huron in late November.

The Prairie Health Information Technology Network includes Horizon's 17 clinics as well as two other community health center organizations for a total of 26 rural clinics in the state.

Scott Weatherill of Horizon Health Care said the Prairie Health network will work to achieve economies of scale and cost efficiencies by sharing electronic medical record resources among its members and enhancing professional development among all clinical staff.

"Not only will the PHIT Network share staff and expertise across its members, but also utilize existing resources in South Dakota to improve quality of patient care," he said.

The network will also work closely with three partners – Dakota State University in Madison, HealthPOINT and South Dakota's eHealth Collaborative.

DSU's Health IT Workforce Development program will provide customized training for PHIT Network staff to help with new knowledge and skills in Health IT. The training will be delivered across the state using various technologies used by the network.

"DSU's Health IT Workforce Development Training program will provide professional development training resources for all staff in the PHIT network," Weatherill said.

HealthPOINT, the state's regional extension center, offers measurable and sustainable solutions to aid health care providers achieve meaningful use.

Working with the state's Health Informational Exchange initiative known as the eHealth Collaberative, PHIT rural clinic members will exchange health information electronically with hospitals and other specialty health care clinics in the larger, urban health systems.

The grant was developed through President Obama's Rural Health Initiative, which identifies Health IT as a priority area. Forty grant awards were given across the nation for an estimated $12 million in program funding.

CHC News List for 2011

Articles marked PNS or GDNS are radio news service stories.

The Prairie News Service (PNS) in North Dakota and Greater Dakota News Service (GDNS) in South Dakota are radio news services that produce and distribute news stories to radio stations across their respective states.

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May 2012