About
Mission:
Improve the safety, outcomes, privacy and efficiency of health care.
What we Are
Download our brochure(pdf), 
or our general presentation(ppt).
Big Bend RHIO is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit that has deployed BigBendHealth.com, a first-of-its-kind health resource that bringing with it economic benefits, a connected workforce, improved medical care and a breakthrough in records management. "BigBendHealth.com will be the essential communication resource for health care in the Capital region," said Martin Shipman, CEO of Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic and chair of the EDC Healthcare Roundtable. "Never before have so many resources been offered in one place." BigBendHealth.com is the largest active HIE in Florida with millions of records for about half a million unique patients in the system and processing nearly a million new messages a month.
BigBendHealth.com initiatives involve every major component of our local health care system from physician's offices to HMO's to hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies. BigBendHealth.com will put Tallahassee ahead of the curve and on the map in the delivery of safer, more cost-effective healthcare, place our community at the head of the line for federal and state research dollars and make Tallahassee a model for other communities seeking to control the cost and improve the quality of local healthcare. BigBendHealth.com is anchored in Tallahassee, Florida and represents Leon and surrounding rural counties.
Website
Our website has been organized into the follow areas to best serve each of our various stakeholders. Greater deatil about our current projects and our currently available products & services can be found on our services page.
Physicians Portal
A private website for credentialed health care providers to share patient records electronically and communicate securely. Click here to open a diagram of the system vision.
My Records Portal
A low cost Personal Health Record (PHR) for residents in the Big Bend that allows users to securely organize their basic medical history online for access by their physician and safe storage in the event of a natural disaster.
Careers Portal
A health care specific job site with openings for the area’s health care industry, plus details about each occupation and available local training to become employable.
Resources Portal
An on-line phonebook of trusted health care resources available from our community.
History
Over the course of the last several years BigBendHealth.com has focused on addressing the myriad of needs for our regional healthcare community. Our predominant focus has been creating consensus, facilitating cooperation of stakeholders, and identifying solutions to migrate current paper based information exchange into the electronic world that is common place for all other major industries. During this brief journey we have accomplished a tremendous amount of the goals, tasks and objectives that were identified not so very long ago. Following is a list of a few key points in our history:
- Jan 2005: Originally founded by 5 visionaries as the Big Bend Regional Healthcare Information Organization or BBRHIO.
- Nov 2005: Established board of directors comprised of key healthcare stakeholders and filed Bylaws & Articles of Incorporation for 501.(c) (3) not for profit.
- 2005-2008: Awarded 3 rounds of funding from the Agency for Health Care Administration FHIN Grants Program totaling $810,375 plus stakeholders donated over $1 million of in-kind products and services to develop a community Health Information Exchange (HIE).
- Nov 2007: Collaborated with the AHCA on grant applications to the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC); the awarded $9.6 million FCC grant represents a multi year project to construct a dedicated broadband network to connect nine rural hospitals around the Big Bend with gigabit fiber.
- Jan 2008: Open the production HIE system to community health care providers.
- Sep 2008: Partner with the Tallahassee Economic Development Council to sponsor a health care jobs portal and jointly launch BigBendHealth.com.
- 2009: Continued growth and expansion!
BigBendHealth.com is expected to become the single point of reference for health care in the capital region and a model for other sites throughout Florida. Coming together for the good of the community, project stakeholders have aimed to provide a service that will build careers and economic development while improving access to health records and information for all residents.