The Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI) at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) http://mehi.masstech.org, just awarded $3 million in grants through MeHI’s Connected Communities Implementation Grant program. The goal is to produce community-level collaboration among healthcare providers using innovative technologies such as EHRs and HIEs.
The Connected Communities Implementation Grant Program was initiated with a needs assessment, involved interviews and roundtable discussions with stakeholders in 15 communities across the Commonwealth. Each community’s needs were included in the Community eHealth Plans and helped to shape the goals of the grant program.
Awards went to seven Massachusetts healthcare organizations working with a total of 78 partner organizations with each receiving grants of $434,000 to support collaborative projects. Each project involves four or more organizations in a specific region and includes hospitals, physician groups, home health agencies, civic and municipal organizations, and at least one behavioral health and/or long term and post-acute care organization.
The seven organizations managing the grants include:
- Behavioral Health Network http://bhninc.org—Project to bridge multiple acuity settings during transitions of care for people with co-occurring medical and behavioral health concerns by exchanging documents
- Berkshire Medical Center www.berkshirehealthsystems.org—Project will create tools to allow clinicians to electronically receive timely hospital admission notifications and discharge summaries, and be able to exchange service notes and care plans
- Brockton Neighborhood Health Center (BNHC) www.bnbc.org—Goal is to coordinate the care of patients with substance use disorders across providers and send and receive referral information electronically
- Cape Cod Healthcare (CCHC) www.capecodhealth.org—Project will standardize the clinical and patient documentation sharing process between CCHC’s two acute care hospitals, primary referral partners, and post-acute providers on the Cape and Islands
- Lowell General PHO www.lowellgeneralpho.org—Project is to develop and implement a cross-setting care management tool, implement real-time data feeds, and optimize workflows and training
- Reliant Medical Center http://reliantmedicalgroup.org—Objective is to build on the current IMPACT Grant infrastructure to include first responders, behavioral health providers, hospices, and the area Aging Service Access Points. The plan is to measure outcomes of transitions and coordinate the care
- Whittier Independent Practice Association (IPA) www.ajh.org—Project will work to reduce adverse drug events by increasing medication reconciliations among acute and post-acute care providers and use alert notifications to reduce the number of hospital readmissions
“By using technology to strengthen local ties, the grantees and their collaborators will be better prepared to address the critical healthcare challenges impacting Massachusetts, including combating the opioid crisis, avoiding unnecessary or recurring readmissions, and preventing adverse drug event,” said Laurance Stuntz, MeHI’s Director.