The Indian Health Service about six weeks ago launched a population management graphical user interface called iCare that provides clinicians with an integrated view of patient information from its Resource and Patient Management System, Government Computer News reports.
The system lets providers search patient data by categories, such as community, age, gender and number of physician visits. Users can tag patients in a database with one or more diagnoses. In addition, providers can use a query management tool, called Q-Man, to request specific data, such as diabetics who had three physician visits last year.
The system also lets health care professionals compare patient data from one community with that from another community. For example, if the data indicate that one community has higher asthma rates than another, providers then can investigate the causes and take action, Government Computer News reports.
The RPMS is adapted from the Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture. However, the Indian Health Service's system includes additional resources for health care concerns, such as infant care, childhood immunizations and women's health, that are less common among veterans (Walsh, Government Computer News, 7/16).