Lakelands Rural Healthcare
Quality Initiative
Rural health providers face unique challenges, including the management of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma and hypertension. In May 2009, HSSC released a request for proposals as part of its Rural Healthcare Quality Initiative. Dr. Kevin Bennett at the University of South Carolina (USC) School of Medicine submitted the winning proposal in partnership with the Lakelands Rural Health Network that will use the network's health information exchange (HIE) as a living laboratory.
The Lakelands Rural Health Network is a vertically integrated network of hospitals, physician practices, and other providers in Abbeville, Laurens, Greenwood, McCormick, Edgefield, and Saluda counties. The HSSC grant builds upon previous federal funding that established the HIE and addressed technical and governance issues around sharing relevant patient information.
The study, funded by The Duke Endowment, will look at how select chronic conditions are managed using HIE, whether participation in an HIE improves quality indicators (NCQA measures) and clinician perceptions.
Rural Healthcare Programs
Although South Carolina has three major metropolitan areas, our state remains largely rural. According to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, chaired by former South Carolina Governor David Beasley, scope and scale are fundamental differences of hospitals in metropolitan areas and rural areas. In the rural parts of South Carolina, there are access to care issues, major disparities among minorities, and chronic healthcare problems. HSSC is developing specific programs that are quantifying these issues through research and action items.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the prevalence of risk factors for a variety of chronic diseases is much higher in rural areas than urban communities. Compounding person-level risks are ecological factors, such as significant shortage of healthcare professionals, geographic isolation from specialty care, and reduced reimbursement rates from important third party payers such as Medicare. The interaction among people, system and ecological-level factors yields unique rural challenges.
Through programs such as the Lakelands Rural Healthcare Quality Initiative, HSSC will build on these efforts by engaging rural health experts including the State Office of Rural Health, the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, rural hospitals, and healthcare providers on research initiatives.
