How Health Information is Shared Among Hospitals in Michigan

Providers are skilled at caring for patients in the clinical setting, but when the patient returns to his or her home, often a disconnect occurs. To improve outcomes, patient engagement efforts seek to close that gap by having providers develop an ongoing partnership with the patient and his or her family and by having them participate fully in care decisions. More than two-thirds of Most Wired organizations and half of all hospitals surveyed engage with patients and their families through the Internet outside of the clinical setting: exchanging emails with the care team, introducing the patient and the family to the care environment and reviewing educational materials provided during a visit.

Todd Linden, president and CEO of Grinnell (Iowa) Regional Medical Center, outlines how rural hospital leaders might synthesize the lessons from the American Hospital Association's Rural Health Care Leadership Conference.