Date:	Sept. 15, 2008
Contact:	Ellen Averill (918) 561-8215

TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences joins Drumright, Cleveland and Holdenville hospitals in a pilot program to implement a Heath Information Technology grant from Health Resources and Services Administration. OSU leads the pilot program, which includes facilities in 16 states.

The five-year, $2.2 million dollar grant allows the three critical-care hospitals to connect to a Tulsa tertiary facility that is associated with OSU to transmit medical records between medical facilities. A patient medical record created at a rural facility is transmitted in electronic form between participating medical facilities.

Darrell Morris, Drumright Regional Hospital chief executive officer, and Jason Bray, OSU-CHS chief medical informatics officer, discussed benefits of implementing the grant at a recent conference of the Rural Health Association of Oklahoma.

The process allows for better patient safety by providing faster diagnosis, better quality care and better diagnosis documentation.  Bray said, “The technology made available through this partnership between these hospitals and OSU will provide improved quality care for rural Oklahomans, which we are very excited about.”

Morris said funding for advanced technology creates the opportunity for improvements to patient safety and increased efficiency among hospital personnel.