HospitalPortal.net and National Rural Health Association Announce Partnership

By: PRLog
The company receives NRHA’s stamp of approval as preferred option for intranet.

PR Log - Apr 24, 2013 - Rural hospitals need products tailored to their unique needs. In April, the National Rural Health Associations’ Partnership Program (NRHASC) hand-picked HospitalPortal.net’s intranet platform as a top option for rural and critical access hospitals.

Based on features like affordability and ease of use, HospitalPortal.net was welcomed into NRHA’s partnership program after a 30-day vetting process.

“Though critical access hospitals are typically smaller facilities facing very specific challenges, they are looking for the same efficient, advanced technology that is typically only available to large hospitals,” said Albert Jurkiewicz, founder and CEO of HospitalPortal.net, based in Rolling Meadows, Ill. “We have designed an intranet platform with a focus on the unique characteristics of rural health care. We are honored to be recognized as an official partner of NRHA.”

Currently, more than 50 of the nation’s 1,328 critical access hospitals are using HospitalPortal.net. For more than a decade, the company has built self-service, custom software and web-based information management systems specifically for hospitals and health systems. The company offers on-site training to educate departmental staff on how to customize the intranet and control the content, instead of relying on the IT department.

The intranet platform is geared toward organizing information to prepare for regulatory audits and surveys, and it has a centralized system for managing policies, procedures and other standardized documents, like training materials and human resources forms. It also allows for streamlined communications across remote campuses through news and announcements, blogs, event calendars and document sharing.

Communications and document sharing are often among the top pain points for remote rural hospitals. “Critical access hospitals are usually 25 miles apart — sometimes 100,” said Larry Bedell, executive director of the National Rural Health Association Services Corporation, which manages the vendor partnership program. “There are several small health systems of four- or five- hospitals in our membership who struggle to communicate effectively among themselves.”

That struggle sometimes means driving back and forth between the hospitals to transfer written documents that are too large to email.

“An intranet platform like HospitalPortal.net can really solve that problem,” Bedell said.

The distance also makes it hard for potential vendors and critical access hospitals to find each other. “We are a conduit,” Bedell said. We rely on rural facilities to make recommendations about the products and services they are using.”

Rural and critical access hospitals have several unique needs, which is why NRHA takes the time to vet potential vendors before giving the stamp of approval.

As one NRHA member said to Bedell: Saying that critical access hospitals are like small versions of large urban hospitals is as far off as saying that pediatrics is like working on small adults.  “There is a specific way that rural hospitals do business and purchase products,” Bedell said. “Our partnership program promotes products and services that have a track record with rural hospitals. We also educate the vendors on the buying habits and needs of the rural hospital market so they can tailor their products and services.”

The partnership also means HospitalPortal.net will exhibit at upcoming NRHA conferences including the July Rural Quality and Clinical Conference in Chicago and the October Critical Access Hospital Conference in Austin.

“This partnership is a win-win for our team and for the rural hospitals who need an efficient intranet,” said HospitalPortal.net CEO Albert Jurkiewicz. “We look forward to more opportunities to serve this important market.”

HospitalPortal.Net , Rolling Meadows, Ill., specializes in Hospital and Healthcare specific web portal solutions, custom software development and system integration services, which include built-in Joint Commission-compliant document management systems for healthcare facilities. The company provides self-service tools, document management and publishing tools for ease of access to both clinical and non-clinical staff members. Tel: (866) 580-7700. Visit our website: http://www.hospitalportal.net.

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