Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has designated $250,000 to the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to help rural healthcare facilities in the state improve their exchange of patient information, reports El Dorado News-Times.
The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership is a nonprofit organization of 14 hospitals and two federally-qualified health centers in south Arkansas.
The organization will use Arkansas Blue Cross's funding to continue to participate in Arkansas's State Health Alliance for Records Exchange, or SHARE. SHARE facilitates Arkansas hospitals' exchange of critical patient data including clinical care summaries, medications, immunizations records and lab results, according to the News-Times.
Arkansas Blue Cross initially awarded the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership $817,000 to participate in SHARE in January 2020.
"Through SHARE and Arkansas Blue Cross, our member hospitals have been able to share and have access to patient data, which has been crucial during the pandemic," Mellie Bridewell, CEO of the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership, told the News-Times.