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First Behavioral Health Facility Connects with HIE
We've connected our first behavioral health facility to the health information exchange. OHI, based in Brewer, Maine, is now sharing patient registration information, diagnoses, patient demographics, allergies and medications. Additional data types will be added in the future. Bringing together mental and physical health records is a huge step to improving care coordination, patient experience and care quality for those seeking mental health treatment in Maine. Per Maine law, information created by a licensed mental health provider or facility is shielded from view in the clinical portal until the patient "opts in" or access is needed to respond to a medical emergency. For more information about how a patient can choose to include their mental health information in their HealthInfoNet record, visit our website.
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HIE Success Stories - Mental Health
While we just connected our first facility, many mental health providers have been able to see into the HIE for some time. Hear from a couple of our users talking about how they've used the HIE to support client care.
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| | Using HIE in Behavioral Health |
Can't access Youtube? Click here to view on our website.
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Patients Piloting Access to HIN Record
It's been almost a decade in the making, but HealthInfoNet is now sharing data with patients. Patients at three EMHS (Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems) primary care practices are piloting use of the Blue Button to download a continuity of care document (CCD) containing a summary of their HealthInfoNet record. The CCD is available for download through the EMHS patient portal for patients of the three EMHS practices selected to pilot this service. The pilot project is part of the Maine State Innovation Model Testing Grant. The pilot will conclude in April. Stay tuned for our next newsletter where we'll share what we learned and any plans for expanding the pilot.
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Recent HIE Users of the Month
Each month, HealthInfoNet recognizes one of its highest volume users, highlighting the ways in which they use the HIE to support improvements in patient care at their organization.
 December, 2014 - Matt Hackett, R.PH, works in the inpatient pharmacy at Maine Medical Center. He noted that checking the HIE is important to help avoid any drug interactions. He recalled a situation recently where the HIE helped him catch a potentially deadly interaction. Read his story.
 January - Breanna Graham is a Health Information Associate at Northeast Cardiology Associates (NECA). Using HealthInfoNet, Breanna and her colleagues have reduced the number of phone calls they need to make and the wait time for faxes has been eliminated. "When you call, you may not get records in a timely fashion or the fax may fail. HealthInfoNet is much more reliable." Read her story.
 February - Joseph Borer, MD, is an ED Physician with St. Joseph Hospital. He mostly reviews past medical problems, hospital admissions, and notes from recent visits to a primary care provider. This helps him better coordinate care. "It helps me understand what your providers are doing and participate in that care in an improved way." Read his story.
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New HealthInfoNet Board Members
We recently welcomed a number of new members to our Board of Directors. New members in 2015 include the following. For a full list of members, visit our website. - Andy Crowder, CHCIO - Senior Vice President and CIO, MaineHealth, Portland
- Kevin Lewis, CEO, Maine Community Health Options, Lewiston
- Ken McCall, PharmD, Professor, College of Pharmacy, UNE, Portland
- Michelle Probert, Manager, Integrated Health Services, Bath Iron Works, Bath
- Paul Stein, COO, MaineGeneral Medical Center, Augusta
- Carol Timberlake, Administrator, Orchard Park & Edgewood Rehab & Living Center, Strong
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New Mission, Vision and Strategic Direction
Can you believe it's been ten years since our mission and vision were written? Clearly it was time for an update. So in early 2014, the HealthInfoNet Board agreed to undertake a formal process to gather the input needed to update these important statements and develop a road map for the organization to follow over the next three to five years. Input was gathered from a broad range of stakeholders including staff, board members, other HIEs, and customers. View our complete Strategic Direction Overview including our new mission and vision on our website.
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HealthInfoNet Management Changes
As part of our recent strategic planning process, we've implemented a new organizational structure that reflects our growth in both employees and services. Leading our new Client Services Team as Director of Client Services is Katie Sendze, formerly Program Director. In addition to leading our major grant programs, Katie is now also responsible for customer relations, training, and account management. Phil Profenno, formerly Director of Implementation and Client Services is now Director of Information Services. His team is responsible for maintaining the HIE's core systems, providing application software development and managing interfaces with data partners.
We also recently said goodbye to two of our management team members. Todd Rogow, former CTO, left in January to be Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Healthix, a large health information exchange organization that currently serves New York City and surrounding communities. Amy Landry, former Communications Manager, left in March to be Communications and Outreach Manager for the Center for Healthcare Transparency at the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI). NRHI, based in Portland, represents over 30 organizations across the country working to transform health care delivery through improvements in patient experience, care quality, population health, and per capita costs. Both Todd and Amy were with HealthInfoNet for close to five years.
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Buzz about Reporting & Analytics
We continue to sign new customers to our reporting and analytics service. Current customers include St. Joseph Healthcare, Franklin Community Health Network, Beacon Health LLC, Mount Desert Island Hospital and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. The service has been receiving a lot of attention in the news media, social media sites and healthcare IT circles from Maine to Washington, DC. Here is some of that recent news coverage.
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About HealthInfoNet
HealthInfoNet is an independent, nonprofit organization using information technology to improve patient care quality and safety. The organization manages Maine's statewide health information exchange and offers services to encourage health information technology adoption and support new and emerging models of care and care management. The organization maintains administrative offices in Portland, Maine.
207-541-9250 or 866-592-4352
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Lower Literacy and Translated HIE Forms Available
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HealthInfoNet worked with both literacy and translation consultants over the past year to lower the reading level of our consent forms and translate them into the top five languages spoken in Maine (besides English of course). Our participants have asked for some time for both translated and lower literacy level patient forms and brochures. We have replaced our forms and 1-pager with lower literacy version and have translated these forms into Arabic, Chinese, French, Somali and Spanish. All new forms are available on our website.
Click here to access our Resource section and click the folder "For Patients" to find all our translated and English forms.
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Real-time HIE Stats Available at our Website
We are consistently asked for a number of statistics related to the data in the HIE as well as our usage volume. So we took the most frequently requested stats, also appropriate to share publicly, and placed them on our website. See the following link. Click here to view our stats page.
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