|
FAQ's on MFI
How does MFI know where to send data? Imagine a bicycle wheel. Spokes reach in from the wheel rim to the center, or hub, connecting each part of the wheel rim to the center. MFI is a similar concept, with a centralized database (the hub – called MFI Integration Site) connected to each RPMS facility and receiving data daily from the site (see diagram 1.0 below).
Each of the facilities you see linked to MFI will, in itself, also be linked to villages within their location. Thus, a village in the Fairbanks area will transmit data to Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center in Fairbanks. Then the data will be sent from Chief Andrew Issac to the MFI Integration Site.
When MFI receives details of the patient visit it will check to see what other facilities that patient has visited and transmit the visit information to those sites.
If the patient had also visited Bethel, then MFI would in turn transmit the data to Bethel. Data would NOT be sent on to Bristol Bay unless MFI showed that the patient had previously visited that facility also. However, if subsequently the patient visited Bristol Bay MFI information would then be forwarded to that facility.
So why share data? Data is shared for Health Care, Budget Funding and Health Administration.
Health Care A health care provider is able to offer better health care when they know of the patient’s medical history. The more complete that history, the better the care. In the Alaska health care system there is a potential for a patient to be seen in over 250 different health care facilities. Many patients have health records at up to six of those locations.
Budget Funding Compact/Contract funds for Alaska Natives are calculated on the number of active users. If patients are not documented as having an encounter in the last three years they do not show up on active user counts. A PCC-Ambulatory Patient Care Report 1A report is sent to Albuquerque to aid in identifying discrepancies of patient visits.
Health Administration If some patients/encounters are missing from the state-wide database those patients are not documented in any Epidemiological research and therefore under-represented. There are various studies, such as Virology, Rheumatic Fever, Hepatitis, Cancer, TB and Women’s Health.
Just what patient data does MFI transfer? Is MFI available for everyone to access?
I've heard data does not always make it to the MFI machine or another site. Why?
Various factors;
If you have patients being seen at multiple facilities but their health summary does not list one (or more) of the other facilities health record number(s) please contact the MFI team. A document is in the process of being revised and issued on this site for guidance in correcting duplications at sites. So what is in the future for MFI?
Plans are underway both to expand and consolidate MFI and to correct the current issues.
|
