Incorporating Public Health in Adoption Model for Interoperable Electronic Health Records in Minnesota

The role of e-health in supporting health and health care transformation in Minnesota led to a legislative mandate in 2007 that requires all health care providers to have an interoperable electronic health record (EHR) system by 2015.  The mandate includes the development of a statewide plan and endorsement of uniform standards for sharing and synchronizing health data across systems.

The Minnesota Model and approach was created to recognize diverse setting types including public health. The model incorporates issues of quality improvement, population health and interoperability. The model includes a continuum that represents the adoption pathway for interoperable EHRs (see Figure 1):

·         Adopt, which includes the sequential steps of Assess, Plan and Select.

·         Utilize, which involves implementing EHR product and optimizing use by function and workforce. 

·         Exchange, including readiness to exchange with other partners as well as achieving a level of semantic interoperability.

The overall Minnesota Model is the basis for ongoing strategic planning, resource allocations, workforce training needs determination, and overall implementation of interoperable EHR's. Data collected to date recognize the diverse setting types in public health based on state/local jurisdictions and the spectrum of adoption and use in those settings.  The model is being used to focus resources and collaborative action into related activity and supports an informatics assessment and evaluation framework to monitor adoption of EHRs and standards.