Current Topics

 

How the Washington, DC Suburbs Respond to HIV/AIDS

The Profiles Project: How Washington DC Suburbs Respond to HIV/AIDS provides a comprehensive look at how seven inner suburbs (Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland and Northern Virginia’s 5 health districts – Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William) are approaching HIV education, prevention, testing and care and provides action steps for enhanced collaboration and public policy work to improve the regional response to HIV/AIDS.  Funded by the Washington AIDS Partnership and Kaiser Permanente, Mosaica, the Center for Nonprofit Development and Pluralism, undertook this community research project in collaboration with the Regional Primary Care Coalition.

The Project products include a full report, summary reports for Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland and more detailed reports on each jurisdiction.  It provides an information base for action by local jurisdictions, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders to enhance collaboration, strengthen systems and services, and improve links between HIV/AIDS providers and safety net clinics.

In undertaking the project, Mosaica spent most of 2009 collecting data from over 120 individuals and organizations, consulted with regional advisory bodies and examined HIV/AIDS statistics and funding information.   RPCC and its participants will be using the information learned through the Profiles Project to inform its work.

The Full Profiles Report is available on the Mosaica website: CLICK HERE

Grants for HIE awarded to the Region

 

 

 

DC Department of Health Care Finance Awarded HIE Grant

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services has awarded the DC Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) with $5 million dollars to establish an electronic medical health record for District patients. The grant money comes from stimulus dollars, and will bring together public and private stakeholders to integrate existing health record initiatives in the District including the DC RHIO (regional health information organization), and the Patient Data Hub. The grant project, entitled, “Connecting the Capitol Region: The District of Columbia’s Health Information Exchange” aims to establish a “seamless District-wide integrated interoperable HIE.” (DC Department of Health Care Finance, 2/17/10). The full grant description is available on the DC Department of Health Care Finance website: Click HERE.

Maryland Health Care Commission receives funds for Electronic Health Records

The federal Department of Health and Human Services will award $9.3 million dollars from stimulus funds to the Maryland Health Care commission to build an exchange for electronic health records. Secretary John Colmers anticipates that the funds will “accelerate Maryland’s innovative health IT partnerships between government and health care providers and allow them to get health information into the hands of clinicians when and where they need it.” The Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients, a non profit organization, is tasked with developing the e-health record system. Funds are intended to benefit as many as 4,000 physician providers across Maryland .For further information Click HERE.

Metro DC Health Information Exchange (MeDHIX) Project Final Report

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality plans to publish the final report from the Metro DC Health Information Exchange (MeDHIX) project that it funded over a four year period beginning in 2005. The final report, entitled “Strategies for Successful Planning and Implementation of HIE Solutions in Safety Net Clinic Communities”, outlines the project’s goals and aims, conceptual framework, and results, and also discusses lessons learned and challenges/barriers to HIE implementation.

The goal of MeDHIX is to implement a multi-jurisdictional health information exchange in underserved populations that links specialists, safety net clinics, and hospital emergency departments. To date, MeDHIX is an open source HIE that links 14 safety net clinics and 40 care sites across 3 jurisdictions—the District of Columbia; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Northern Virginia

The need for a regional approach to Health Information Exchange for the uninsured in the DC Metro region was the driving force behind this study—with safety net providers agreeing that this population is unique from insured population and thus warrant special focus; that the uninsured are quite mobile across jurisdictions in the region; and that funding challenges across jurisdictions are similar and monies would be most optimally maximized if leveraged regionally.

The study highlights how different and complex confidentiality and privacy laws are governing patient’s health information across jurisdictions that are so close geographically (and whose patient populations migrate across jurisdiction borders quite frequently)—making open sourcing of this data quite difficult and providing a continuum of care for patients across the jurisdictions equally difficult. While AHRQ’s funding of this project formally ended in September of 2009, the team of Principle Investigators trace out next steps for the sustainability of the regional HIE project, including the expansion of the DC RHIO and continued funding of safety net EHRs and HIEs across the jurisdictions.

The full report can be accessed HERE. Please contact Tom Lewis, Chief Information Officer of the Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County, for more information at Tom_Lewis@primarycarecoalition.org.

Kresge Foundation Grant awarded to the Primary Care Coalition and Maryland Department of Health and Human Services

The Kresge Foundation has awarded a 7 month, $75,000 planning and design grant to the Primary Care Coalition to work in conjunction with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (MCDHHS). The grant project will be an extension of MCDHHS’ “No Wrong Door” Initiative which screened every patient presenting at any MCDHHS service door for their eligibility in Montgomery Cares—the Primary Care Coalition’s health access program for low income, uninsured adults—and safety net services in the County. PCC-MCDHHS Connect, the name of this grant project, will link Montgomery Cares and safety net clinic patients to MCDHHS services through IT, policies, and practice models, so that patients can obtain the services that impact the social determinants of health (defined as behavioral patterns, genetic predisposition, social circumstances, environmental exposure, and healthcare). After the initial phase of planning ends in August, PCC-MCDHHS will propose an Implementation Plan in September, 2010 to pilot the project. A full description is available HERE, and more information can be found on PCC's website

Community Health Workers Workforce Grant

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $4.9 million dollars from federal stimulus legislation funds to be directed towards assisting unemployed, displaced, and incumbent workers in DC. Providence Health Foundation of Providence Hospital (the grantee) and a diverse set of partners—including the DC Department of Employment Services, the DC Primary Care Association, Regional Alliance for Careers in Health, and the University of DC—will work together to offer “training and educational opportunities for individuals to obtain employer/industry recognized certificates or degrees as well as support career pathways to nursing, allied health, long-term care, and health information technology sectors”. (Department of Labor Press Release, 2/12/10). In addition, the grantee and partners will provide support to participants to help them overcome barriers to employment and job retention. It is predicted that over 500 students will be enrolled in educational programs under the grant, and over half will be placed in employment in health sectors. A full description is available HERE.

 

PCC's Annual Report

The Primary Care Coalition's annual report entitled "We All Deserve Health Care" is now available. Click Here for the full report.