Director named for center to help Indiana doctors go electronic
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University's Healthcare Technical Assistance Program has named Monica Arrowsmith director of a new center to help Indiana primary-care doctors adopt electronic record and e-prescribing technology.
Monica Arrowsmith
Arrowsmith is heading the Indiana Health Information Technology Extension Center (I-HITEC), funded by a $12 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. Most recently she was chief quality officer and legal counsel for Lafayette's Clarian Arnett Health.
"At Clarian Arnett, Monica has provided leadership in health information management and information technology, key areas for I-HITEC," said Mary Anne Sloan, director of HealthcareTAP. "She also has more than 10 years of experience in developing and implementing a variety of initiatives involving quality, safety, joint ventures and electronic health records."
Arrowsmith has a bachelor's degree in nursing from Ball State University, a master's in nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Purdue is one of as many as 70 nonprofit organizations nationwide that will receive ARRA funding to develop regional centers to assist health professionals in selecting and implementing new information technology software.
Purdue's center will aid Indiana small practices of 10 or fewer health-care providers, community health centers, federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics.
"There is a national priority to have doctors using electronic health information technology by 2014," Sloan said. "We can leverage the networks established by Purdue's Healthcare Technical Assistance Program to reach practices that don't have access to the resources of the larger health-care systems and haven't yet adopted electronic technology. With this funding, we will help them select products and provide training on how to use the technology to its fullest potential to improve patient care."
Arrowsmith said, "Using the latest in health information technology helps health-care providers know more about their patients, which will improve the quality of care provided and reduce the risk of errors. I-HITEC's role will be to provide the support and training the health-care providers and their staffs need as they implement the technology."
Purdue's Healthcare Technical Assistance Program partners with Indiana health-care providers to improve quality, safety and efficiency. It is a partnership among the Indiana Hospital Association, Purdue's Technical Assistance Program and Purdue's Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and is a corporate partner with the Indiana Council of Community Mental Health Centers Inc.
The Regenstrief Center applies a systems analysis approach to improve the process of health-care delivery.
Purdue's Technical Assistance Program provides resources to help Indiana businesses, industry and government implement new technologies and operates the Healthcare Technical Assistance Program.
Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@pyurdue.edu
Sources: Mary Anne Sloan, 765-496-1899, masloan@purdue.edu
Monica Arrowsmith, marrowsmith@purdue.edu
Related Web sites:
Purdue Technical Assistance Program