Wyo. Establishes Health IT Commission

Wyo. Establishes Health IT Commission

August 15, 2005

Volunteers in Wyoming on Thursday formed a commission to develop a statewide health IT system, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The existing Wyoming Healthcare Commission began the effort, but organizers said a separate board was necessary to execute the project, the Star-Tribune reports.

The new group - called the Wyoming Health Information Organization - will be chaired by Dr. Geoff Smith, a radiologist in Casper. Other members will include Wyoming Department of Health Administrator Leland Clabots, Wyoming Primary Care Association Director Steve Chasson, Black Hills Bentonite Vice President Larry Madsen, and representatives from Great-West Insurance, the Wyoming Hospital Association and the Wyoming Medical Society, the Star-Tribune reports.

WyHIO's first priorities will be to hire an executive director, increase the number of practices that electronically file insurance claims, develop a system that will enable physicians to send prescriptions over e-mail, coordinate hospitals and physicians and build basic patient health records, the Star-Tribune reports. WyHIO hopes to obtain funding through grants and government subsidies.

Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) asked the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for help developing Wyoming's system, and a representative from the group offered technical assistance last week in Casper.

"The system currently is expensive and inefficient, and we need to find ways to make it more efficient and more affordable so that more people can get access and better health care," said Anne Ladd, executive director of the Wyoming Healthcare Commission (Nordby, Casper Star-Tribune, 8/13).