Southern Illinois Practice Management Network (Group)

Christopher Gr Area Rural Hlth Plng Corp, Christopher IL

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Southern Illinois Practice Management Network (SIPMN) is a group of five Community Health Centers providing care to over 90,000 patients in 25 rural counties in southern Illinois. SIPMN=s Rural Internet Connection Grant proposes to install equipment at each delivery site to create a secure, high speed Internet connection network and electronic mail communications. Activities proposed in the grant have four clear goals: 1) Provide rural physicians, mid-level practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, allied health professionals, and administrative staff throughout the SIPMN with high-speed access to Internet-based information and library resources; 2) Establish secure electronic mail services for all center users within the clinics, and improve e-mail communications among SIPMN members; 3) Develop a training curriculum for clinical providers to learn how to access resource libraries. The training will be consistent among all five health centers with one designated trainer from each organization. The training will be provided by the Resource Library at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield; and 4) Incorporate clinical information obtained through Internet-based resources to improve patient care and assist the clinical providers in retrieving necessary resources for their individual research needs.