EPHC Awarded $2 Million to Build Rural Healthcare Data and Analytics Platform
EPHC has been selected by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to receive up to $2 million over four years through the Rural Health Network Advancement Program (RHNAP).
EPHC was one of only seven organizations selected nationally through the competitive federal review process and the only awardee in Colorado.
The funding will allow EPHC to develop a network owned data and analytics platform designed to give its rural hospital members greater insight into patient movement across the region and identify opportunities to keep more care within their communities.
Turning better data into stronger rural hospitals
For rural hospitals, understanding where patients receive care after leaving their facility can be difficult. Yet that information can be critical to understanding patient needs, strengthening coordination across organizations, retaining patient transfers, and identifying opportunities to grow services and patient volumes locally.
EPHC's new platform will provide member hospitals with greater visibility into these patterns and help identify where care is leaving their communities and where opportunities exist to keep more of that care local.
The project will also support the development of a centralized EPHC Transfer Program, creating greater coordination across the network and helping connect patients with appropriate care available within EPHC member hospitals.
Together, these capabilities are intended to help member hospitals retain more patient transfers, grow patient volumes, strengthen local healthcare services, and keep more healthcare and economic activity in the rural communities they serve.
Building shared capabilities for rural healthcare
The project represents an important next step in EPHC's work to create shared resources that benefit its network while preserving the independence and local decision making of each member hospital.
By developing the data and analytics capability at the network level, EPHC can give rural hospitals access to technology, information, and operational resources that can be difficult for individual organizations to develop independently.
The four year award will support the development and implementation of the platform and the infrastructure needed to put these capabilities into practice across the EPHC network.
EPHC also recognizes Jimmie Bailey, Vice President of Growth and Impact, who led the application process, coordinated the required submissions, and worked through the technical revisions that helped make the proposal successful.
EPHC looks forward to beginning this work and to the opportunities it will create for its member hospitals, their patients, and rural communities across Colorado.
