State of Kentucky to Expand Consumer Engagement in eHealth Program To Drive Progress in Transforming Healthcare Delivery
Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 22, 2013 -- As part of ongoing work to encourage providers to adopt effective consumer engagement strategies, the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE) and Northern Kentucky University (NKU) announced today that they have expanded their rollout of a Consumer Engagement Readiness Tool (CeRT) developed by HealthCAWS and mapped to the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) Patient Engagement Framework and Meaningful Use criteria. The NeHC CeRT – powered by HealthCAWS – is a business intelligence tool that includes an extensive survey-based organizational assessment, real time progress reports and a comprehensive resource center and solutions directory.
Consumer engagement – making sure consumers are informed and playing an active role in their health care – is critical to healthcare reform and the goals of lower costs, improved care and a healthier population. As providers implement health information technology into their healthcare settings and work to meet the criteria set forth by the federal government regarding electronic health records, they will need to demonstrate various ways in which they are working to expand consumers’ role in their care.
The Kentucky Governor’s Office of Electronic Health Information and KHIE launched an initiative earlier this year to accelerate consumer and patient engagement in eHealth throughout the Commonwealth by purchasing and distributing thirteen individual CeRT licenses to providers in Kentucky. The number of providers that expressed interest in using the CeRT tool as part of this initiative was far more than expected. Given the importance of consumer engagement in the state of Kentucky and the enthusiasm of current CeRT users, KHIE has increased its purchase of CeRT licenses to include all applicants, which will bring the total number of recipients to 45 Kentucky healthcare organizations.
“We would like to congratulate the additional facilities selected for our CeRT project,” said Polly Mullins-Bentley, Kentucky State Health IT Coordinator and acting director of KHIE. “I would also like to thank the Kentucky Regional Extension Center for their assistance in creating this worthwhile project. Together, we are helping providers across Kentucky integrate electronic health information into their practices and improve standards of care. Expanding patient engagement is the next step in the work we are doing to broaden health information in the Commonwealth.”
The Kentucky coalition is collaborating with NeHC and HealthCAWS to leverage the NeHC Patient Engagement Framework and Consumer eHealth Readiness Tool (CeRT) – powered by HealthCAWS – as part of this effort.
“We are pleased with the leadership demonstrated by KHIE to support consumers and providers in our new environment of accountability, for which consumer engagement is a key ingredient for success,” said Rose Maljanian, CEO of HealthCAWS, Inc.
“Consumer engagement in eHealth is one of National eHealth Collaborative’s very top priorities. We recognize that patient and family engagement is an important part of meaningful use and these requirements are creating challenges for some providers. It is exciting that leaders in Kentucky are making the Consumer eHealth Readiness Tool available to providers to enable them to accelerate their progress in leveraging health IT to engage their patients,” said Kate Berry, NeHC CEO.
Interested stakeholders may learn more about this exciting milestone on a NeHC University webinar on November 12, 2013. During The Consumer eHealth Readiness Tool (CeRT) in Action, webinar attendees will hear about the progress of the Kentucky consumer engagement initiative, including their approach, objectives and rationale. Program highlights will include an overview of the CeRT assessment, feedback from current CeRT users and a case study from PrimaryPlus, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) serving Northeastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio.
Kentucky Health Information Exchange:
The Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE) is part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), which is home to most of the state's human services and health care programs, including Medicaid, the Department for Community Based Services and the Department for Public Health. CHFS is one of the largest agencies in state government, with nearly 8,000 full and part-time employees throughout the Commonwealth focused on improving the lives and health of Kentuckians.
About HealthCAWS:
HealthCAWS is a health care services company focused exclusively on helping payer, population health and delivery system clients improve health and reduce health care costs. By Combining Accountability with Support in an adaptable technology Platform, HealthCAWS mobilizes consumers and providers in a unified effort to achieve the common goal of high quality, affordable care – “the CAWS™.”
About National eHealth Collaborative:
National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) is a public-private partnership focused on accelerating progress toward widespread, secure and interoperable nationwide health information exchange to improve health and healthcare. National eHealth Collaborative is a cooperative agreement partner of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Consumer eHealth Readiness Tool powered by HealthCAWS may be licensed at http://www.nationalehealth.org/CERT.
Rose Maljanian, HealthCAWS,Inc., http://www.healthcaws.com/, +1 (860) 673-0221, [email protected]
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