Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers — Organizational Development: Health IT
http://www.ilmaternal.org/ICSHC.index.htm
Laura began working with the Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers in September 2004, as the Lead Consultant on the Administrative Cost Sharing Project; an endeavor to research, plan, and implement a process of centralizing essential administrative responsibilities through a contracted health information system vendor. The Administrative Cost-Sharing Project’s mission is “to increase the administrative effectiveness of Illinois school health centers in order to ensure their fiscal sustainability, maintain and enhance high quality services for Illinois students and their families, and influence public policy to preserve and expand this critical health care delivery model.”
The project consists of three phases: 1) a feasibility study; 2) a planning process that identifies the specific framework for the health information system needed to meet the mission and goals of the project; 3) implementation of a pilot with 3-5 school health center sites.
Through her work on the project, Laura has further developed her expertise on health information technology and the importance of community health centers having a sophisticated system to track data. She has facilitated meetings and site visits with potential vendors and conducted analysis of candidates to help ICSHC determine which vendor will best fulfill the project requirements. Laura will continue to assist the Coalition as they move into the pilot implementation.
The project currently focuses on Chicago-area school health centers, however ICSHC plans to ultimately expand the administrative cost-sharing project to sites throughout Illinois.
“Laura is a leader in the Administrative Cost-Sharing Project for the Illinois Coalition of School Health Centers. Her strong facilitation skills and willingness to venture unwavering into new territories has resulted in a project that is on the cutting edge of health information technology, which will ultimately improve the health and well-being of students in Illinois.”
– Robyn Gabel, Executive Director, Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition