Diffusion of Innovation: Introducing Advanced Technology To Rural Primary Health Care in West Virginia

摘要

The integration of technology with rural medical practice presents the opportunity to address chronic health issues in West Virginia. A pilot project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addresses an office system intervention to address obesity, a persistent and highly prevalent problem. The goal of the project is twofold. First, create a technology-based intervention that will change physician practice patterns through structured prompts based on clinical selection criteria for at-risk, overweight or obese patients. Second, facilitate improved communication between physician or provider and the patients, encouraging chronic disease self-management principles. Based on technology created by the Health Disparities Collaboratives, the CV-DEMS software will be installed in two rural clinics and evaluated in terms of effectiveness, staff utilization and unproved health outcomes. The introduction of technology to paper-based clinical practices has been proven to increase patient safety, reduce medication errors and improve physician utilization of evidence-based practice guidelines. As a policy issue, this paper addresses how the diffusion of innovation improves health care in priority populations.