Rep. Shuler to Announce Federal Appropriation for CarePartners

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Heath Shuler (D-Waynesville) will formally announce on Monday, February 22^nd that he has secured $300,000 in federal appropriations for CarePartners Health Services of Asheville to integrate all home-based services with a mobile electronic health record.   The funding was requested by Shuler during the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations process. It was included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill that was passed and signed into law in December, 2009.

The 300,000 appropriation will allow CarePartners to purchase a new software program that gives staff the ability to access patient information remotely while in patient’s homes, enabling them to provide care more effectively and efficiently.  The software will be used by staff in three different areas of CarePartners- Hospice, Home Health and Private Duty.

The software will link CarePartners to all hospitals in Western North Carolina through Datalink, making the organization the first non-hospital healthcare service to participate in Datalink. This linkage will enable CarePartners to access patient data from regional hospitals and vice-versa.  This seamless transition between health care providers will reduce the need for unnecessary and duplicative tests, eases the burden on emergency rooms and Medicare, and ultimately saves taxpayer dollars while ensuring better and more effective health care for Western North Carolina residents.