OCTOBER 2010 Issue

Leaders celebrate kickoff of eHealthAlign health information exchange

On Oct. 14, members of the eHealthAlign Formational Board of Directors and leadership team joined with a wide variety of community health care stakeholders and the Informatics Corporation of America (ICA) leadership to celebrate the conclusion of more than two years of planning and fundraising that culminated in the establishment of a new nonprofit organization to oversee and manage a secure health information exchange for Kansas City and 25 surrounding counties.

The eHealthAlign health information exchange will provide a platform to facilitate the sharing of health data across organizations, using a proven technology solution from ICA to integrate with existing technology systems used in hospitals and physician’s offices.

The eHealthAlign health information exchange will share in real time, across organizations, discrete data elements called continuity-of-care data (CCD) for patients, including allergies, problem lists, lab results, procedure results, demographics, medications, immunizations, vital signs, clinical summary notes and health education materials.

The creation of interfaces between the eHealthAlign technology platform and area hospitals and health care providers will begin in the first quarter of 2011.

The eHealthAlign Formational Board and Leadership Team will measure the success of the health information exchange by the achievement of improved patient-centered medical care, improved clinical decision making, reduction in medical errors, improvement of care coordination, reduction in unnecessary hospital readmissions, reduced staff time and a reduction in the paperwork burden for patients.

For more information on eHealthAlign please contact Laura McCrary at 816-701-8288.

Children’s Enhancement Project System Change Committee members selected

On Oct. 21, the Metropolitan Mental Health Stakeholders approved a proposed slate of nominees for a regional committee that will focus on the transformation of children’s mental health services in the Northwest Missouri region. The committee is the final component of a broad initiative called the Children’s Enhancement Project (CEP) that was developed and initiated when the children’s unit at Western Missouri Mental Health Center (now the Center for Behavioral Medicine) was closed.

A large group of stakeholders worked together to create a new model of intensive services and supports that will allow children to remain in their own homes or in professional parent homes rather than being hospitalized. The CEP project is concluding its first full year of services and initial evaluation results indicate that children are achieving better outcomes at a lower overall cost.

With the establishment of the Children’s System Change Committee, the final component of the CEP project is in place. The System Change committee will address systemic problems in children’s mental health services. Initial issues that have been identified include the need for a more collaborative approach with public schools, increased access to tele-psychiatry, increased training options and data sharing agreements. The System Change Committee will meet monthly beginning in 2011. A list of meeting dates and times will be available in early January.

Members of the new System Change Committee include:

• David Bennett, PhD, Children's  Mercy Hospital
• Jerry Carpenter, Kansas City Regional Office, Missouri Department of Mental Health
• Luis Cordoba, Kansas City School District
• Tom Cranshaw, Tri County Mental Health Services
• Stan Edlavitch, University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Kathleen Featherstone, Kansas City Regional Office, Missouri Department of Mental Health
• Mel Fetter, Pathways Behavioral Health
• Alan Flory, ReDiscover
• Gary Hammond, Family Guidance Center
• Lori Irvine, North Central Missouri Mental Health Center
• Jake  Jacobs, EITAS
• Gloria Joseph, Swope Health Services
• Mary Kettlewell, Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City
• Bill Kyles, Comprehensive Mental Health Services
• Lynn Lemke, St. Luke's Health System
• Betty McKinzie, Center School District
• Jacqui Moore, Jackson County Mental Health Levy Board
• Marsha Morgan, Truman Medical Center
• Bonnie Neal, Department of Mental Health
• Alan Odle, Jackson County Courts
• William Pankey, MD, Swope Health Services
• Michael Pethan, Bureau of Special Needs
• Arvella Pineda, Advocate
• Mary Ellen Schaid, Gillis
• Kevin Young, Two Rivers Hospital
• Doug Zimmerman, Ozanam

How will health care reform affect behavioral health care service delivery?

On Nov. 4, the Metropolitan Mental Health Stakeholders, in conjunction with the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, will present “Healthcare Reform: Its Implications for Behavioral Healthcare Service Delivery” from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Saint Paul’s School of Theology Holter Center, 5123 East Truman Road, Kansas City, Mo. The event is free and open to all Greater Kansas City behavioral health providers, but space is limited. [Download the flier.] Please RSVP to Traci Rowland by Oct. 28.

David Lloyd, president and founder of MTM Services in North Carolina and senior consultant for the National Council of Community Behavioral Healthcare, will facilitate the session. Lloyd, the author of How to Maximize Service Capacity, has been a featured presenter at numerous national, regional, state and local workshops and conferences. He has provided on-site management, training and marketing consultation to over 180 agencies and organizations across the country.

Lloyd is known for an energetic, motivational and focused "we can do this" presentation and consultation style. His management expertise is based on more than 30 years of combined experience in both the private, for-profit corporate environment and in nonprofit behavioral health care organizations.

The proposed forum agenda includes:

• 9:30 a.m. — Welcome and introductions
• 9:40 a.m. — Health care reform implications for medical service providers
• 10 a.m. — The role of behavioral health and outcome-based values, including timely access to care, enhanced treatment capacity requirements and measurable outcomes
• 11:45 a.m. — Lunch break
• 1:00 p.m. — Changes in the landscape of service delivery — implications for consumers, families and advocates
• 1:30 p.m. — Next steps and measurable outcomes needed
• 2:30 p.m. — Adjourn

Johnson County Community College receives grant to train HIT workforce

Johnson County Community College (JCCC) is one of 17 colleges to receive funding through the Midwest Community College Health Information Technology (HITECH) Consortium grant. Community colleges funded under this initiative will establish intensive, non-degree training programs that can be completed in six months or less to train a new workforce in the area of health information technology.

On Sept. 27, JCCC began two programs for its first class of 20 students — Health Information Management Redesign Specialist and Health Information Management Support Specialist. The JCCC HITECH program is taught through a combination of classroom and online delivery. Students will be trained to provide consultant workflow expertise and technical support to physician’s offices, clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities that are implementing electronic health records and health information exchanges.

To be eligible for the training program, students must have experience in one of the following areas: an information technology or information systems role in a business or health care environment; working in health care as a clinical practitioner/health care worker; or a background in medical administration such as medical billing or a hospital business office. For more information contact Deb Elder, HITECH grant program director, at 913-469-8500 ext. 4270.