The "kick-off" meeting for Long Beach Network for Health was held on July 26, 2005, and although it seems like yesterday, today is January 1, 2007! Where did the time go?
In 18 short months, LBNH:
- has coalesced as a community-based organization,
- raised almost $700,000,
- selected a pilot project,
- engaged in and completed an assessment of potential pilot project participant capacity for health information exchange,
- begun a project to assess how the Long Beach community will benefit from health information exchange,
- selected and contracted for a technical solution,
- and is moving toward having full-time staff to continue to move this project along at lightning speed.
There are still items to be addressed (such as finalizing the business associate agreement for the use of data in the emergency rooms, developing the sustainability model, and educating physicians and patients), but I am confident that LBNH participants will maintain their commitment to make patient data available to clinicians in the emergency rooms.
It has been my privilege to work with the members of the Long Beach Network for Health coalition. It is really an honor to sit at the table with these people and listen to them work toward a common goal: improving healthcare quality at the point of care.
I look forward to all of the surprises, challenges, and successes the year 2007 will bring to LBNH.
Happy New Year, all!
