Information technology is taking on a whole new role in the field of health care, and Joe Erevia is leading the charge here in the Rio Grande Valley. Health Care IT Specialists has been in business for two years working behind the scenes with individuals, hospitals, home health agencies, and clinics to link systems to establish electronic medical records and share patient information between specialists.
When President Barak Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February of 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act was a part of that. It mandates that all health care providers operate with electronic medical records, EMR, by the year 2013 or face penalties. A further incentive is a $40,000 reimbursement offered to doctors who use EMR practice-wide. Erevia’s business centers on getting doctors and their office systems prepped for the big changes in technology.
“Communication is key to saving a life; now networks are the key in health care,” Erevia affirms.
Health Care IT Specialists sets up virtual private networks (VPNs) so information can be shared securely between different doctors, hospitals, specialists, EMS, and home health providers. Access to a patient’s complete medical records creates the environment for providing the best possible health care needed by individual patients. Cutting down on paperwork and the need for face-to-face meetings adds a “going green” element to modern health care technology. Interlinked offices allows for a smooth process of referring patients to specialists and administering prescription medication as well. Health Care IT Specialists is also one of the first companies in the Valley to work with virtual servers, meaning what could take several server machines before can now be housed in one machine with multiple virtual servers inside that use both phone lines and laptops for easy connections. VPN and virtual servers are no longer the wave of the future but the technological advancements of today.
Erevia, a Harlingen native, graduated from Harlingen High School and attended Texas State Technical College. In his 20s, he started working at Valley Communications/Valley Radio related to public safety through the county, police, and fire departments. He worked on the merge of frequency networks as part of Homeland Security’s Texas Law 3, National Law Enforcement Interoperability, in 2003. Working for Orbit Broadband opened the door for him to branch out into other components of communication, and he began to focus on health care while being trained under the IT director at The Headache and Pain Center at the Medical Arts Pavilion at Valley Baptist Hospital in Harlingen. Erevia then began his employment with United Home Care and Dr. Nolan E. Perez and developed experience in programs in the health care field. He has since ventured on his own, assisting medical professionals and health care organizations with their IT needs. As a certified health care security technician and one of the few specialists in his field, Erevia stays on top of the constantly changing laws, speaks frequently with medical legal consultants, and renews his certifications to be fully aware of today’s requirements.
Additionally, Erevia has acquired Icon Technologies of Brownsville, expanding his business into providing web design, graphic design, and computer networking. His company has a fast-response time team of four Valleywide with multiple subcontractors as well. They are currently serving the Harlingen and Brownsville areas, with expansion into La Feria and movement toward the McAllen area.
At age 33, Erevia is not only ahead of the curve in adhering to the pipeline of change coming in the medical field’s technology, but he also has paved an early path to success in business. As he says,
“This is the future they want, and we’ve already started it.”
Health Care IT Specialists can be reached at (956) 792-3587 or toll free at (800) 736-4250. Visit their website at www.HealthCareITSpecialists.net for more information about this growing field of technology.
