Shepherd's Research Corporation is awarded $1.7 million contract to develop electronic medical systems

ISSUED: 26 May 2009
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
(Shepherd's Research Corporation is awarded $1.7 million contract to develop electronic medical systems)

Shepherdstown, WV--The Shepherd University Research Corporation (SURC) has been awarded a contract by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services (DHHR) to work on several Medicaid Transformation eHealth pilot projects related to increasing the use of electronic medical record (EMR) and personal health record (PHR) systems in West Virginia.

The $1.7 million contract calls for SURC to help implement EMR and PHR systems at several sites across the state. One of the sites where an EMR system will be installed is the Shepherd University Student Health Center.

One of the goals of the Medicaid Transformation eHealth grants is to develop and test innovative health information technology solutions aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health care delivery by the state's Medicaid program.

The contract is the second one awarded to the Shepherd University Research Corporation in the past year for work on health information technology. In April 2008, SURC was awarded a contract for $1.1 million to conduct a series of surveys of West Virginia hospitals, clinics, and physicians' offices on their use of electronic medical record systems and other selected health information technologies. That project was completed in March 2009. These projects involved Shepherd University faculty from the computer science and nursing education programs working with SURC staff and personnel from KRM Associates, the leading health informatics in the Eastern Panhandle located in Shepherdstown.

Shepherd University Research Corporation is a nonprofit corporation founded in 2006. Its primary mission is to help foster and support the academic and scientific research mission at Shepherd University. Major goals of SURC include fostering increased research activities by faculty in all disciplines, obtaining funding to support the academic program via research grants, involving students in funded research projects thereby enriching their learning experience, and involving local businesses from the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and surrounding region in applied research projects. The SURC office is at 203 Princess Street, Shepherdstown, WV 25433. Visit the SURC Web site at www.shepherd.edu/surc.

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