The Land Grant University for the 21st Century
Washington State University - Agency 365
2009-2011 Operating Budget Request
Performance Level Decision Package
–Policy Level "HI"
Better Health and Healthcare through
Informatics
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Updated Aug 25, 2008
Agency Recommendation Summary:
A
$2 million state biennial operating package for new research and master’s
degree graduates in health informatics at Spokane is requested by Washington
State University and the Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS), a private
non-profit organization. Health Informatics is the use of
information technology in health care such as
telemedicine and electronic medical record (EMR) systems. This research and
technology is used to improve clinical care, safety, quality and cost.
The request to improve health care is for a director, three research faculty and
support including four graduate research assistants.
The goal is to improve health and healthcare through the creation of a rigorous
Health Informatics research and education program.
Fiscal Details:
Package Description:
This request takes advantage of the local partnership with INHS and existing
Riverpoint health sciences programs to address the broader research and serious
workforce issues in healthcare informatics.
The INHS organization is headquartered in Spokane, where the WSU Spokane campus
focuses on graduate and professional education and research in the health
sciences. INHS links three dozen hospitals electronically, along with its
partner physician offices, imaging centers and laboratories. This type of data
collection provides an excellent opportunity for faculty and students to
research clinical data for new treatments, better therapies, and improved
knowledge. In an unprecedented partnership, this health informatics research and
graduate education program is being developed jointly by Washington State
University and INHS.
A
serious workforce shortage exists both in the state and nationally in Healthcare
Informatics. Health care organizations and businesses that use services such as
INHS and other forms of information technology in healthcare are having
difficulty finding quality people to employ in well-paying jobs. Master’s-level
students with extensive education in healthcare informatics are needed by
employers as health care professionals, medical/nursing information officers,
health information managers, informatics researchers and informatics
instructors. There is an estimated need for
approximately 110,000 information technology professionals in health care
setting nationally. As adoption increases to levels required for improved
safety, quality, and cost savings in all hospitals, the need for such
professionals is estimated to increase by approximately 40,000.
A
2007 American Academy Association of Science (AAAS) report said that
‘Expansion
of graduate training at the WSU Spokane campus is critical to the success of WSU
health science research”.
One of the new programs the AAAS recommended for development at WSU Spokane was
Health Informatics. No other informatics program in the State or country has
access to a healthcare system as advanced in its use of health information
technology as that available in Spokane.
Narrative
Justification and Impact Statement:
Electronic medical records are becoming more common in hospitals, and throughout
healthcare, but the adoption is still uneven and the ramifications are not fully
understood. The explosion of medical and biological information has made it
clear that innovative advances in storing, retrieving, and interpreting
information are essential for the delivery of optimal patient care as well as to
monitor patient data for potential disease outbreaks and to alert public health
officials. A recent Rand report concludes than an
interconnected healthcare system would save more than $80 billion per year and
save lives by preventing medical errors. The combination of a strong health
informatics research focus and a strong health information infrastructure hold
promise for a strong positive and measurable impact on patient savings and
health care costs.
Research to improve
healthcare:
The proposed WSU
program will conduct research on the ramifications, clinical outcomes and
efficiencies of moving from paper to electronic record-keeping. WSU will
research how to use electronic record-keeping more successfully. Researchers
will look at expanding clinical data repositories to include outpatient records
as well as current electronic inpatient data collection. Such information can be
used to evaluate clinical outcomes, health care efficiencies, and the added
value of health information technology provides to such outcomes.
Research will also be conducted on the implementation and adoption of
information technology in health care settings. Such technology is typically
adopted in clinical practice within individual practices first, then between
practices, and finally, across the system. This will be collaborative and
complementary to competitive basic science medical and bioinformatics research
activity at Institute for Systems Medicine, WSU, UW, Gonzaga, EWU, etc.
WSU proposes an
interdisciplinary program:
The proposal requests
salary and operations support for a new director and three research-intensive
faculty members to develop a program of research and Masters of Science degree
program in Health Informatics. The faculty will
leverage and enhance the current educational and research
activities from the Colleges of
Pharmacy, Nursing, and Business. The core faculty would be housed in the
Department of Health Policy and Administration in the College of Pharmacy, which
is a component of the WSU Division of Health Sciences. The program will build
upon and leverage recent state and university investments in the health sciences
in Spokane (medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, and allied health sciences).
Health Informatics will become a critical research
focus and graduate academic program to be developed with INHS and within the WSU
Health Sciences at the WSU
Riverpoint campus. This program will be interdisciplinary in nature,
recruiting additional faculty to participate in their educational and research
activities from the Colleges of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Business.
Informatics
complements other Riverpoint Health Sciences programs.
The
Legislature has already made a significant investment in health sciences
research and education by funding medical, dental and nursing programs on the
Spokane Riverpoint campus. The addition of health informatics will bring a
greater return on the investment.
Collectively the health sciences and health professional programs at WSU provide
a strong framework for health care and applied research. This program represents
a university/private/non-profit partnership with a national healthcare leader as
well as the healthcare sector in Eastern Washington.
OUTCOMES:
1.
The education program
is intended to produce a highly competent workforce in health informatics in
Eastern Washington. This will further increase adoption and integration of
healthcare technology in Eastern Washington health care.
2.
The director and
faculty will be expected to implement a program that that will enroll 12
masters-level students by fall, 2010. In the following and succeeding year,
additional cohorts of at least twelve students will be admitted.
3.
The courses and
dual-degree opportunities will be made available to about 160 students currently
enrolled in the Masters Health Policy and Administration program, the Doctor of
Pharmacy Program, the Ph.D. Nursing program, the Executive MBA program, and
others currently offered by WSU Spokane that can provide synergies. The students
will be trained both to conduct practically important research with their
faculty mentors and expected to improve the quality of the healthcare workforce
by working in targeted areas.
4.
Faculty are expected
to secure approximately $5 million in federal research grants for health
informatics over the next five years.
5.
One of the benefits
will be to enhance the visibility of leading edge health informatics research
for the state of Washington.
6.
Over
a period of several years, the state investment will be matched by leveraging
federal and private foundation research grants.
7.
The information gained
from the research will improve the delivery of health care in the region through
increased adoption and efficiency of health information technology in the health
care system. It will influence the delivery of health care nationally through
improvements in the timely delivery, efficiency (reduction of duplication) and
coordination of health services.
Calculations:
For
more information, contact Larry Ganders, Assistant to the WSU President,
Olympia, at 360-534-2333; ganders@wsu.edu
