The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68749

Mary M Crimmins, MA, Wright State University, Center for Healthy Communities, 140 East Monument Avenue, Dayton, OH 45402, 937 775 1122, mary.crimmins@wright.edu and Katherine Cauley, PhD, Center for Healthy Communities, Wright State University, 140 East Monument Avenue, Dayton, OH 45402.

HealthLink Miami Valley is a community collaborative focused on addressing the needs of the health uninsured in Dayton, Ohio. The collaborative is a structured network of work groups with specifically assigned responsibilities including project management, outreach, evaluation, MIS, and interface with safety net organizations. The latter group, the Advisory Council has representation from some 75 safety net organizations, all working to develop strategies, plans and systems to optimize advantages of information technology (IT) developments while establishing and maintaining HIPAA compliance. The Advisory Council meets bi-monthly and has developed special interest groups which operate through electronic communities. Presenters will discuss the methods by which these electronic communities have been organized and developed including critical elements contributing to collaborative efforts. The qualitative methodology used to track group development and significant factors in evolution of the partnership will be described. The cost effectiveness of electronic connectivity among safety net organizations will be evaluated. The authors will present participants with a template for development of electronic communities, delineating areas which seem most amenable to such technological applications. The focus of this research is to develop a best practice model for communities of safety net organizations who are developing electronically and to identify new methods for sharing resources and reducing cost by using technological and legal developments.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify qualitiative methods appropriate to investigation of electronic interactions.
• Participantrs will be able to identify organizational structures and functions appropriate to development of electronic communities.

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Methodology

Related Web page: www.med.wright.edu/healthlink/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.