Health Information Technology

Health Information Technology (HIT) Studies

HIT Implementation Guide—A project to produce a guide that will help a diverse range of provider organizations (inpatient and ambulatory) address the unintended consequences of their HIT implementation.
Contact: Shinyi Wu, PhD (Shinyi_Wu@rand.org)

Pilot Tests of New E-Prescribing Standards

Pilot tests of the effectiveness and interoperability of new standards—RxNorm and the SCRIPT 10.5/Sig standard—that address gaps in electronic prescribing, which CMS is promoting as a cornerstone strategy for improving quality and controlling costs within Medicare Part D.
Contact: Douglas Bell, MD, PhD (Douglas_Bell@rand.org)

Tool Set for E-Prescribing

Development of a tool set to help a diverse range of provider organizations, from smaller independent offices to large medical groups and "safety net" clinics, to adopt e-prescribing systems and use them effectively in ways that advance the organizations’ goals.
Contact: Douglas Bell, MD, PhD (Douglas_Bell@rand.org)

Electronic Referral System

An assessment of the impact of using a Web-based referral system to improve the integration of primary care and specialty care through a common interface.
Contact: Douglas Bell, MD, PhD (Douglas_Bell@rand.org)

Studies Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Innovation to Improve Health Care Quality and Reduce Disparities-A project that brings together a multidisciplinary team of RAND investigators to accelerate development, dissemination, and adoption of Q-DART GIS mapping and decision tools to improve quality and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in health care.
Contact: Allen Fremont, MD, PhD (Allen_Fremont@rand.org)

Mapping Quality Hot Spots in California

A demonstration of the utility and value of using Q-DART GIS mapping and decision tools to assist California health plans and other stakeholders in improving the quality of care and outcomes for diabetics.
Contact: Allen Fremont, MD, PhD (Allen_Fremont@rand.org)

Improving Health Care Quality and Cost-Effectiveness

A partnership with the Brookings Institution to support its High Value Health Care Project to improve health care quality and cost-effectiveness, using Q-DART services to indirectly estimate health plan members' race/ethnicity and map target areas for disparities interventions.
Contact: Allen Fremont, MD, PhD (Allen_Fremont@rand.org)

Charting Health Care Disparities

A project using the Q-DART methodology to estimate the race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status of Humana health plan members and provide the insurer with tools, including maps, needed to develop and use these estimates to identify disparities in care.
Contact: Allen Fremont, MD, PhD (Allen_Fremont@rand.org)

Q-DART Training

Training for CIGNA staff on the use of Q-DART methodology to indirectly estimate race/ethnicity of plan members when self-reported race/ethnicity data are unavailable and to use Q-DART GIS mapping and decision tools to assess and act on gaps in quality of care among diverse populations.
Contact: Allen Fremont, MD, PhD (Allen_Fremont@rand.org)

Estimating and Mapping Health Literacy

A project to develop a predictive model of health literacy in Missouri and estimate levels of health literacy in small geographic areas (census tracts) using Q-DART tools.
Contact: RAND_Health@rand.org

Effect of Pay-for-Performance (P4P) on Disparities

A study that applies Q-DART methodology for generating indirectly estimated race/ethnicity data to examine whether health care disparities are increasing in California health plans under P4P incentives, to identify exacerbating factors, and to model alternative programs to reduce disparities.
Contact: Cheryl Damberg, PhD (Cheryl_Damberg@rand.org)

Neighborhood Effects on Childhood Asthma

Analyses of childhood asthma prevalence, morbidity, and health care utilization combined with GIS location data from the Allies Against Asthma study of families living in two housing projects in Puerto Rico. Study goals include determining whether geographic clusters of high asthma prevalence and morbidity occur in the neighborhoods and, if so, whether social and physical neighborhood characteristics are associated with this clustering effect.
Contact: Marielena Lara, MD, MPH (Marielena_Lara@rand.org)

Mapping Local Health Department Service Gaps

An assessment of whether and how GIS can be employed by local health departments to inform planning efforts so that they more closely align community health needs with public health services and programs.
Contact: Tamara Dubowitz, ScD, MSc (Tamara_Dubowitz@rand.org)

Documenting Adolescent Eating and Activity Patterns

A four-year study to track a sample of older adolescent girls in Minneapolis and San Diego to geographically document diet and physical activity while the girls are away from home and out of school, and to determine whether eating away from home is associated with neighborhood food environments and changes in BMI.
Contact: Deborah Cohen, MD, MPH (Deborah_Cohen@rand.org)

Decision Support Tool for Locating Mass Dispensing Sites

Development of an easy-to-use, computer-based GIS decision-support tool for identifying point of dispensing sites for mass dispensing of medications during an emergency.
Contact: Paul Sorensen, PhD (Paul_Sorensen@rand.org)

Mapping Tool for Special Needs Populations

A project to develop a simple to use, Web-based GIS tool that can be used by state and local health departments to identify special needs populations and better incorporate their needs into preparedness planning.
Contact: Jeanne Ringel, PhD (Jeanne_Ringel@rand.org)

Public Health Issues of Ex-Offenders Returning to Communities

A project incorporating GIS mapping to examine public health issues associated with prisoner reentry in California, the health care needs ex-offenders bring with them, which communities are disproportionately affected, and the health care system response of those communities to which ex-offenders return.
Contact: Lois Davis, PhD (Lois_Davis@rand.org)

A National Health Information Network—What Are the Real Privacy Issues?

Unique patient identifiers (UPIs), proposed as part of a national health information network (NHIN) to identify and match patients' electronic medical records, may enhance rather than degrade privacy. More important, the controversy over UPIs distracts from the key privacy issues connected with an NHIN: Namely, the need to strengthen Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules and to reconcile current state laws on health information privacy.

Research brief

Health Information Technology: Can HIT Lower Costs and Improve Quality?

Properly implemented and widely adopted, HIT would save money and significantly improve health care quality. Annual savings from efficiency alone could be $77 billion or more. Obstacles include market disincentives: Generally, those who pay for HIT do not receive the related savings.

Research brief

Electronic Prescribing Systems: Making It Safer to Take Your Medicine?

Electronic prescribing systems may greatly reduce medication errors, thereby maximizing patient safety and health, but currently used systems vary widely in their features and capabilities and may not produce the best results for patient safety and health.

Research brief

Electronic Prescribing Research

http://www.rand.org/health/projects/erx/

Q-DART—Tools for Assessing & Responding to Disparities in Health Care Quality:

www.rand.org/health/projects/qdart/