Management Information System (MIS)
The Management Information System (MIS) can be thought of as "glue" that has the capability to bind all of HAP's initiatives together. The MIS is a comprehensive system that was purchased to provide a collaborative and consistent network of information to medical providers who serve the uninsured in Polk County. It uniquely integrates data from all community partners, allowing them to fully coordinate care and services for the uninsured in our county.
The MIS provides not only a database of demographics and medical data, but also an opportunity for screening all of the patients for eligibility in healthcare programs (i.e. Medicaid, hawk-i, etc.). In addition, the MIS includes a technical module to coordinate the Volunteer Physician Network, by centralized, electronic tracking of individual physician contributions and referral processes that occur. Outreach and Social service workers are also key users of the MIS, as the system is, and can be installed on laptops for workers to access instantly when in the community. The evaluation and monitoring capabilities of the MIS are extensive and include many report mechanisms, which can be generated by individual provider offices.
A full-time Project Coordinator, located at The Center for Healthy Communities, is responsible for the implementation of the MIS into healthcare provider clinics and offices, with an initial focus on providers that primarily serve the uninsured.
The implementation strategy for the MIS is first to have the large safety net providers in Polk County install and begin using the system after staff training and Policy and Procedure development. Following these, the second phase is to have local hospital ER/admitting departments begin using the system as uninsured patients present. Additional safety net sites will then be added.
