Formation of the WyHIO 

In 2003, the Wyoming Legislature created the Wyoming Healthcare Commission (WHCC) to develop strategies to improve health care and reduce health care costs for Wyoming citizens. In 2004, the legislature passed Enrolled Act 31, directing the Commission to create an Information Technology Technical Management Subcommittee (IT2) to study and plan for a statewide interoperable health information exchange network by Oct. 15, 2005.

To help evaluate the feasibility of such an effort and develop a Health Information Technology (HIT) plan for Wyoming, John Snow, Inc. (JSI), a public health consulting firm with expertise in developing plans for implementing HIT, was contracted by the state of Wyoming to assess Wyoming’s electronic health information readiness and make recommendations to the Wyoming Healthcare Commission (WHCC) on how to rapidly increase the utilization of technology for accessing patient health information.

On June 29, 2005, as part of the IT2 committee’s vision resulting from the JSI study process, the WHCC recommended to Governor Freudenthal and the Legislature’s Labor, Health and Social Services Committee that Wyoming form a self-sustaining regional health information organization (RHIO) to facilitate an intrastate, regional interstate and national federal partnership for the rapid deployment of Wyoming’s electronic health information infrastructure. In July 2005, more than 50 representatives of local, state, and federal government, businesses, medical care providers, and healthcare purchasers and payers gathered to discuss the development of a RHIO for Wyoming.

In early 2006, the stakeholder group formalized this RHIO and registered it with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office. The WyHIO is a 501 (c) (3) organization.

Start Up Planning
In partnership with Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, the WyHIO applied for and received a Rural Network Development Planning Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to study and establish the organization. Additional initial financial support was obtained from Wyoming stakeholders to assist with the work supported by the HRSA grant.

WyHIO Projects

Utah Health Information Network (UHIN)
In 2006, the WyHIO Board began discussions with the Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) on a possible WyHIO/UHIN collaboration to facilitate the exchange of medical claims data among providers and payers in Wyoming. This collaboration would have allowed the members in the WyHIO to exchange healthcare transactions and messages through the UHIN.

 
UHIN operates as a centralized, secure network through which health care transactions pass in Utah. Providers can submit electronic claims to all UHIN payers using a single standardized format. After an initial review, the Board felt there was not sufficient justification to pursue the collaboration.
Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC).

 
In 2006, Wyoming was one of 34 states and territories awarded a subcontract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality through RTI International, Inc. (RTI).This grant was to create a Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) group that would address privacy and security policy questions affecting the interoperable exchange of electronic health information among the numerous organizations that make up the health care community. A partnership between the WyHIO and the University of Wyoming Center for Rural Health Research and Education (CRHRE) was created to accomplish the goals of the HISPC.

 
Following completion of the project, Wyoming requested, and was awarded a follow-on grant to create an online privacy/security resource center for Wyoming. This center http://www.wyhir.org provides a central resource for privacy and security as well as other topics related to healthcare information technology information and exchange, and telehealth.

 
Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) Capability Assessment
Working under contract to the Wyoming Healthcare Commission (WHCC), the WyHIO completed an assessment of the HIT capabilities of Wyoming's healthcare providers. This included information on existing information technology capability in Wyoming’s medical community, specific software in use, access to high speed internet connections, and the ability to exchange electronic healthcare information among providers in Wyoming.
View the report.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Grant Application
Wyoming was recently awarded an FCC grant to electronically link health care providers together is a dedicated communications network. The WyHIO participated with 12 other organizations to apply for that grant, and authored the project's ten-year business plan.

 
The pilot program provides for the construction of state or regional broadband networks and services provided over those networks. The networks will be designed to bring the benefits of innovative telehealth and telemedicine services to those areas where the need is most acute. Installation of equipment is anticipated by December 2010.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Electronic Health Records (EHR) Demonstration Project
Through a contract with the Wyoming Department of Health, the WyHIO developed and submitted an application for Wyoming to be considered as one of twelve pilot sites in a CMS demonstration project for EHR adoption. However, that application was not adopted.
View the application.

Wyoming Telehealth Leadership Group
Following award of the FCC grant, there was a growing interest in telehealth. In is evidenced by the increasing number of efforts to build telehealth capacity. These efforts have the potential to improve health care access, quality, and cost-effectiveness, and include both the public and private sectors. However, the efforts have, for the most part, developed independently.

 
In 2008, representative from the organizations listed below formed the Wyoming Telehealth Leadership Group to address a number of statewide telehealth activities.
• Wyoming Department of Health (WDH);
• Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC);
• Wyoming Medical Center (WMC);
• Wyoming Hospital Association (WHA);
• University of Wyoming Center for Rural Health Research and Education (UW-CRHRE);
• Wyoming Medical Society (WMS);
• Wyoming Health Information Organization (WyHIO).

The WyHIO provided coordination for the Group's activities, and developed both a telehealth expansion plan and a governance plan for the statewide telehealth network.
View the development plan.
View the proposed governance agreement.

This group was later replaced by the Wyoming Telehealth Consortium.

 
Health Information Exchange Roadmap
The WyHIO developed a Roadmap for the design and implementation of a statewide HIT/HIE network, based on recommendations in WHCC and WyHIO reports, and consensus developed at a statewide HIT/HIE Conference. The purpose of this statewide HIT/HIE effort is to give providers the ability to gather and exchange electronic healthcare information as one means to improve the cost, quality, access to, and safety of healthcare.