Central, Secure Data Access Is a Game Changer for Tribes
Unlike RPMS, PATH, which stands for Patient at the Heart, is a centrally managed EHR that potentially offers transformational benefits to tribal healthcare providers.
Data Accessibility Across Organizations Nationwide
A central repository for clinical data affords leaders more opportunities to mold policy decisions around population health trends.
“Elected officials are trying to solve the most pressing issues in their communities, and a lot of them center around healthcare,” Thornbrugh says. “We have to be able to support them all with data.”
For clinicians, PATH EHR simplifies nationwide data retrieval. Right now, providers must ask patients where they’ve received care so they can refer to that location’s EHR.
“In the future, we’ll simply ask for the patient’s information and the system will figure out where it was, because it won’t matter,” Thornbrugh says.
> $6 billion
The estimated 10-year cost of the PATH electronic health record transition
Source: hcinnovationgroup.com, “Indian Health Service IT Exec Describes Plans for EHR Transition,” Dec. 8, 2023
This enhanced data access also supports telehealth for Native people living in remote locations.
“It enables healthcare operations across vast distances,” says Chris Shupe, project manager for Delaware Nation Industries. “Tribes can stay closer to home, or even at home, to receive the care they need.”
A Centrally Located, Centrally Supported EHR
“Being centrally supported, we’re going to be able to provide a lot more support and training,” Thornbrugh says. “Since the system is the same, we can support training at a national level.”
With a national support team at the ready for PATH EHR, healthcare providers serving tribal nations will have more central resources available.
An EHR with Stronger Cybersecurity Protects Organizations and Patients
A centrally managed EHR also vastly improves the ability to safely and indefinitely store patient data. It’s far easier to patch, allowing for updates to be pushed out within weeks as opposed to months (if at all), says Thornbrugh, and it supports multifactor authentication and advanced encryption.
READ MORE: Get the most out of your electronic health record.
The Path Ahead for IHS and Tribal Nations
IHS hopes to secure $435 million for the 2025 fiscal year, but expects to fall short of that. Budget has been the top challenge so far.
To prepare care providers for the transition, the agency plans to employ thoughtful organizational change management, local infrastructure assessments and mitigations for each site to understand its needs, user training within a few weeks of going live, and multiyear rollouts in cohorts across IHS.
Healthcare organizations can also prepare by addressing existing operational issues, such as ensuring that coding and billing backlogs are addressed.
The IHS has also created a guide highlighting these and other steps that healthcare providers can take in advance of the transition.
