(AUBURN, Nebr. – August 4, 2017) Representatives from Nemaha County Hospital (NCH) attended the 9th Annual Nebraska Information Initiative (NeHII) Annual Meeting, held in Kearney, Nebr., August 3. The hospital received two recognitions – the hospital conducted a panel discussion summarizing their efforts with a one-of-its-kind NeHII pilot program. And, Marty Fattig, CEO, received the 2017 HIT Visionary Award.
NCH’s Fattig and Kathy McNaughton, Chief Information Officer, lead a panel discussion examining the hospital’s knowledge and experience with data sharing as part of the NeHII Interoperable Community pilot study. Other program panelists include Dr. Michael Zaruba, physician at Auburn Family Health Center; Jeff Harvey, Administrator of Good Samaritan Society in Auburn; and, Amanda Harrifeld, DON of Good Samaritan Society in Auburn.
For the pilot, healthcare providers from the Auburn Community, including Nemaha County Hospital, Nemaha County Good Samaritan Society and Auburn Family Health Center, worked with the Nebraska Health Information Initiative (NeHII) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) through a grant funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to share patient information through a safe and secure data exchange. This Interoperable Community allows patient medical records to be available to healthcare providers wherever the patient seeks medical care regardless of where the record was created in the community, which improves patient safety and the timeliness of care.
“The interoperability of electronic health records is something that the entire nation is striving to achieve. Developing an Interoperable Community locally is the first step to achieving this goal. The work we have done here can be duplicated across the state and nation in pursuit of this goal,” Fattig said.
In addition to hosting the informative panel, Fattig also received the NeHII 2017 HIT Visionary Award. Fattig and Nemaha County Hospital has been major contributors and supporters of a statewide health information exchange in Nebraska.
Dr. Michael Westcott, President of the NeHII Board of Directors, recognized Marty as a HIT Visionary and presented the award on behalf of the NeHII Board of Directors.
“Marty’s commitment to NeHII and his encouragement of other critical access hospitals to become NeHII participants has been key to NeHII’s success in achieving fifty-three percent of the state’s critical access hospital beds connected and contributing data this past year. Marty represents the interests of rural America and NeHII during his frequent travels to Washington D.C. We are truly thankful for his past support and commitment to NeHII’s success.”
Marty also serves as the Nebraska eHealth Council Co-chair and had been appointed to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology(ONC) HIT Policy Committee Meaningful Use Workgroup. He was also accepted as a Health IT Fellow by the ONC.
