Oklahoma offers 43 delegates as voters hit the polls on Super Tuesday

National political pundits seem to have little to nothing to say about Oklahoma. They save the lion’s share of punditry for Ohio, as the nation inched its way to Super Tuesday.

Some other states are getting short shrift, too. After all, there are 10 states voting in the Tuesday primary – some of them carrying more political gravitas than others. The Super Tuesday race has been described as a scramble for delegates for all four remaining Republican presidential candidates. Ohio takes the limelight because it’s seen as a battleground between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum and because of its swing state status and its 66 delegates, eclipsed only by Newt Gringrich’s home state – Georgia – with 76 delegates.

[See also: Romney argues for individual mandate in Mass., against it nationally]

Oklahoma has 43 delegates up for grabs.

It’s hard to predict how those delegates will go, says Jim Crawford, an Oklahoman and a 30-year health IT veteran. A self-described conservative, Crawford sees Oklahoma as a conservative state.
 
“There’s a conservative movement in general, and the Tea Party in particular has more influence,” he said.

In his view, a candidate like Ron Paul, who advocates for shrinking government would resonate with many Oklahomans.

Fellow Oklahoman and President of the Oklahoma HIMSS Chapter, Robert Neal, Oklahoma voters are not likely to have healthcare IT on their minds when they vote at the primaries or in the general election. It’s really all about the economy, he says. Oklahoma is largely a rural state, and jobs are often hard to come by.

[See also: Santorum attacks Romney on health reform in Ohio]

Neal himself is just finishing a six-month stint consulting to become technical services manager at Comanche Memorial Hospital in Lawton, Okla.

As much as Paul might click with Oklahomans, it was Santorum in the lead in Oklahoma on Monday afternoon. Could it have anything to do with Santorum declaring on Sunday night he would adopt Oklahoma as his home state for Super Tuesday, since Pennsylvania – where he served in Congress from 1995 to 2007- would not hold a primary until April. This is according to a report by The Associated Press. Santorum was speaking at a rally at a church in Broken Arrow, Okla., near Tulsa, when he joked with the crowd, according to The AP.

Oklahomans care about healthcare Neal and Crawford agreed, but the average voter would not be focused on the healthcare information technology. If healthcare were to influence their vote, it would be healthcare reform measures.

There are two distinct camps on this issue, Crawford says – two extremes, in his view. There’s the camp that believes that Obamacare is the best thing since sliced bread, and everybody ought to support it, and there’s the camp that believes Obamacare ought to be shunned – shut down.

Healthcare IT is alive and well in Oklahoma, Neal and Crawford say.

Both men point to the SMRTNet (Secure Medical Records Transfer Network), as a shining example of technology that works. SMRTNet officials call the HIE the most connected HIE in Oklahoma. Since 2006, the network has grown to include members in 72 cities and towns from all corners of the state, they say. 



“It’s governed by all of its members,” Crawford says. “There are no clients.”
Started with a grant from AHTQ in 2005, SMRTNet went live in 2008. “It’s been self-sustained for about four years,” Crawford says.

Neal has noticed a paradigm change in the attitude of Oklahoma healthcare providers toward health IT.

“They are now seeing the value of it,” More are recognizing that it’s the right thing for patients and for healthcare, he says. As for the voters, they are sure about one thing having to do with healthcare, he says. “Healthcare costs should be reduced.”

“The Republican Party overall will win the state,’ Crawford says. It’s not exactly sticking his neck out to say so. It’s a safe bet. Oklahoma has voted for a Republican for President in all but one election since 1952 (1964 was the exception).

[See also: Republicans focus on economy, healthcare in Tennessee]