Indian Health Service Health IT Modernization

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Background
The Project
Key Deliverables
Blog Posts and Ways to Learn More

Background

The Resource and Patient Management System, or RPMS, is currently employed to manage clinical, financial, and administrative information in the Indian health system. RPMS was developed in close partnership with the Veterans Health Administration and has been partially dependent on the development of the VA health IT system, known as VistA. By adapting VistA, IHS minimizes costs of developing and maintaining the system.

Last year, the VA publicly announced a decision to replace VistA with a new, vendor-based system. Consequently, IHS accelerated efforts to re-evaluate health IT priorities and options.

The Project

The project led by the HHS Office of the CTO will develop recommendations for a modern health IT system which will address clinical, process, and technical gaps for improving outcomes in the Indian health system.

Stakeholder input will be required at several stages over the tenure of the project. This will ensure that the voice of tribal members and leaders is incorporated into the project’s recommendations. The project is slated to end in September, 2019.

Project components:

Project planning and strategy
Convening an expert advisory panel on IHS health information technology
Assessment of current health information technology in a sample of IHS, tribal and urban sites
Developing a health IT community of practice
Health information technology analysis and recommendations
Health information technology initiatives roadmap and strategy

Ultimately, tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations should be included in the process at every step. Comments offered at a listening session regarding RPMS continue to inform the current project as it moves forward.

The Office of the Chief Technology Officer seeks to utilize technological innovations to advance the mission of HHS. This project falls directly in-line with that goal by looking critically at how IT within IHS can be improved. Furthermore, the project aligns with the White House initiative to modernize federal IT.

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Key Deliverables

Legacy Assessment*
Analysis of Alternatives*
Strategic Options for the Modernization of the Indian Health Service Health Information Technology Final Report*
Strategic Options for the Modernization of the Indian Health Service Health Information Technology Roadmap Executive Summary*
Infographic: HHS/IHS HIT Modernization Project
Telling Complex User Stories: The Indian Health Service Health IT Case Study
- Part 1 | Call for Human-Centered Design*
- Part 2 | I/T/U Ecosystem, Facilities and Archetypes*
- Part 3 | Service Blueprint: Pregnancy*
- Part 4 | Service Blueprint: Guardianship of Grandchildren*
- Part 5 | Service Blueprint: Suicide Ideation*
- Part 6 | Service Blueprint: ATV Accident*
- Part 7 | Service Blueprint: Recovering from Opioid Addiction*
- Part 8 | Service Blueprint: Diabetes Comorbidities*
- Part 9 | Service Blueprint: Caring for a Loved One*
- Part 10 | Use Cases*
- Part 11 | Bibliography*

* This content is in the process of Section 508 review. If you need immediate assistance accessing this content, please submit a request to [email protected]. Content will be updated pending the outcome of the Section 508 review.