The vision shown by Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., in applying government technology success stories to the private sector will come alive once again when a nationally accredited military health program will be adapted to the needs of West Virginia's medically underserved, rural patients to overcome the barriers of geographic isolation and to improve the quality of their health care.

The initiative, called HEALTHeWV, will utilize the information technology of Walter Reed Army Medical Center's award-winning HEALTHeFORCES program to implement a disease-outcomes-management and preventive-health-services program that enhances health care quality, reduces costs and improves patients' overall health outcomes. The program is a collaborative effort among the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) at Wheeling Jesuit University, the Robert C. Byrd Center for Rural Health at Marshall University, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and medically underserved rural health care clinics throughout the state. A federal grant made possible by Senator Byrd provides the funding for HEALTHeWV.

"West Virginia ranks high in the nation in many of these chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease. That’s why I've worked to expand health care opportunities for all West Virginians, especially those living in rural areas," Byrd says. "HEALTHeWV is the first step for us, and can serve as a model for the rest of the nation."

He continued, "For far too long, rural health care has meant inferior health care. That's unacceptable. Programs such as HEALTHeWV allow patients in rural areas to take a far more active role in their care which, in turn, helps to further the goal of health care equality."

The Lavalette Clinic, in Wayne County, W.Va., has been chosen as the first pilot site for HEALTHeWV, with program implementation slated for early April. As a HEALTHeWV partner, the Lavalette Clinic will receive a Web-based disease management system (including hardware, software, networking, installation, and training) that will create and maintain electronic patient records, improve patient-provider communication, provide access to patient educational materials, and allow rapid access to the latest in evidence-based medicine.

Colonel Jill S. Phillips, HEALTHeFORCES program director at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, says she knew early on in the nearly five-year development/implementation of HEALTHeFORCES that it could also be a valuable tool for the private sector.

"We're always looking to reinvest the government's investment for maximum use of federal dollars," Colonel Phillips said. "HealtheWV is the result of that reinvestment, and it's a privilege for us to be able to support the citizens of West Virginia and continue this project. HEALTHeWV will make a positive difference in the health care provided in rural areas."

According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 90 million Americans live with chronic illnesses, the costs of which account for more than 75 percent of the nation’s overall $1.4 trillion in medical care costs. Moreover, chronic diseases count for 70 percent of all deaths in the United States.

"With HEALTHeWV, physician and clinic partners also have access to online clinical practice guidelines that will ensure more uniformity in the delivery of quality patient care throughout West Virginia and the nation," says J. Davitt McAteer, Vice President for Sponsored Programs at Wheeling Jesuit University.

"HEALTHeWV will give rural physicians a vital new tool that taps both the extensive health experience of the military and the power of computers," said Dr. Charles H. McKown, Jr., Dean of Marshall's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. "Doctors will have better access to more information than ever before, which will allow them to identify and avoid susceptibilities in ways that simply cannot be done otherwise. The program will permit physicians to monitor the health of people who have chronic disease and provide treatment that hastens recovery or, better yet, prevents an acute exacerbation altogether."

This spring, HEALTHeWV will also partner with Health Right Inc., of Wheeling, W.Va., for its second pilot site location.

Mazharullah Shaik, M.D., director of the HEALTHeWV program, says there are many challenges facing today's rural health care community including scarcity of local medical resources and the geographic distance between patients, physicians, and facilities.

"I believe we can meet those challenges through technology, in particular where people often have limited access to a doctor's care," Shaik says. "Future technology may someday allow a health care provider to conduct an early-diagnosis screening test in one location and automatically send the results to a physician located in another part of the state or country."

NTTC CEO James Goulka says the organization is well suited for this initiative. "This program is essentially about marrying science with technology and facilitating the development of federally funded research to identify solutions for addressing health care problems," says Goulka. "The NTTC is in a unique position to understand these challenges and recognize opportunities that draw upon all our resources to drive product development and profitable growth for the health care industry."