Skip to site content
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
for Providers

Health Information Technology

Health Information Technology (HIT) provides the framework for comprehensive management of health information and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers. HIT offers tools for improving quality, safety, and efficiency of the healthcare delivery system. Indian Health Service, along with our Tribal and Urban Program partners, have developed and deployed a comprehensive suite of software applications to support the provision of quality services and the secure management of health information.

Electronic Health Record Systems

Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS) is a decentralized integrated solution for management of both clinical and administrative information in healthcare facilities. Flexible hardware configurations, over 50 software applications, and network communication components combine to create a comprehensive clinical, financial, and administrative solution; a solution that can stand alone or function in concert with other components as needed. Professionals in American Indian, Alaska Native, and private sector health facilities use RPMS every day to efficiently manage programs, maximize revenue generation, and most important, to provide high-quality care for patients.

The RPMS Electronic Health Record (EHR) graphical user interface (GUI) represents the next phase of clinical software development for the IHS putting a modern day software platform on our medical provider’s computers.

Learn more about the Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS) and Electronic Health Record (EHR).

Additional components of the RPMS/EHR environment include:

Health Information Exchange (HIE)

The Health Information Exchange (HIE) is designed to improve coordinated health care of the Native American population. This is achieved through the ability to gather patient history documents from a variety of sources, such as facilities of different types or in varying locations. The HIE provides connectivity to internal facilities and external agencies for the secure exchange of relevant patient data.

Learn more about the Health Information Exchange (HIE)

International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)

The International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification ( ICD-10-CM) project fosters an alliance between Office of Information Technology (OIT), clinical, and business disciplines within the Indian Health Service/Tribal/Urban (I/T/U) community for the benefit of our patients.

Promoting Interoperability (formerly Meaningful Use)

Under the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is authorized to make incentive payments for Medicare and Medicaid Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals that demonstrate meaningful use of certified Electronic Health Record technology. These incentives provide additional resources to stimulate continued improvement throughout the health care system.

The vision which drives the achievement of meaningful use of EHR is one in which all patients are fully engaged in their healthcare, providers have real-time access to all medical information and tools to help ensure the quality and safety of the care provided while also affording improved access and elimination of health care disparities.

Learn more about how IHS is Promoting Interoperability

National Patient Information Reporting System (NPIRS)

The National Patient Information Reporting System (NPIRS) instituted the National Data Warehouse (NDW) in 2006. The NDW is a state-of-the-art, enterprise-wide data warehouse environment for the Indian Health Service's (IHS) national data repository. The NDW gathers, stores, reports, and allows easy access to accurate historical data. It is custom designed to meet the administrative and clinical needs of Indian health end users nationwide. It includes a national enterprise-level database that provides a relatively complete, historical repository of patient registration and encounter information dating back to October 2000.

Learn more about the IHS National Patient Information Reporting System (NPIRS)