GRAND RAPIDS — Officials with Evanston, Ill.-based Care Team Connect announced the completion of their integration into the Grand Rapids-based Michigan Health Information Network, the state’s initiative to improve health care quality, cost, efficiency and patient safety through electronic exchange of health information.
Care managers for patients participating in the Michigan Primary Care Transformation Project and under the care of CareBridge physician practices are receiving real-time notifications of admissions, discharges and transfer from Grand Rapids-area hospitals.
During this initial launch, Care Team Connect will provide real time updates and alerts for 25,000 of the 120,000 MiPCT patients across the state of Michigan for whom CareBridge is ultimately responsible for managing and coordinating the care.
“The MiHIN funded admission, discharge, transfer pilot has entered full production, allowing practices to assess the value of communicating critical transitions of care to the extended care team and medical neighborhood,” said Tim Pletcher, executive director of MiHIN. “Arming care teams with actionable information will ultimately lead to better care for everyone.”
With the integration in place, an aligned care coordinator will receive real-time alerts and care coordination protocols will be automatically applied for care management during and following the hospitalization in those critical weeks post discharge. Relevant patient data, including care team members and hospitalization details, will seamlessly flow into Care Team Connect, where it will be used to generate a patient-specific plan of care aligned with existing treatment protocols.
“Having information at the right time and the right place supports effective care coordination,” said Alicia Simmer, CareBridge project manager. “A consistent and automatic process for receiving ADT information helps the care managers to quickly offer assistance and provide follow up that will result in more successful patient outcomes, including reduced readmissions.”
Care Team Connect’s secure, Web-based care coordination platform connects hospitals, community providers, family members and patients so they can work in partnership across the care continuum to improve patient outcomes while significantly reducing the overall cost of care. Using Care Team Connect’s Gateway integration engine, key patient data is consumed and translated into assigned action items via protocols that follow best practices. The technology, already in place throughout CareBridge Physician Practices, will utilize interfaced data from MiHIN to ensure that an estimated 25,000 patients who may be discharged from multiple Detroit-area hospitals receive the proper follow-up necessary to successfully manage their chronic disease and avoid future hospitalizations.
“We are pleased to take this important next step on behalf our client partners in Michigan,” said Ben Albert, founder and CEO of Care Team Connect. “The speed and accuracy with which Care Team Connect is now able to capture relevant data that drives action will have a positive impact on the follow-up care that patients, especially those that need the most help, receive.”
MiHIN is dedicated to improving the healthcare experience, increasing quality and decreasing cost for Michigan’s people by supporting the statewide exchange of health information and making accurate and timely health care data available at the point of care. MiHIN is the official state designated entity for health information exchange across Michigan and the future integration with the Nationwide Health Information Network. MiHIN is a Michigan nonprofit entity, functioning as a public and private collaboration between the State of Michigan, sub-state Health Information Exchanges, payers, providers, and patients. To learn more, visit www.mihin.org.
Care Team Connect’s secure, Web-based platform powers care networks, aligning acute care, post-acute care, community providers, and family members to consistently deliver the right care to the right patient at the right time. Care Team Connect enables Accountable Care Organization, preventable hospital readmission and Patient-Centered Medical Home care coordination programs to identify and manage targeted patient populations by risk, payer, condition and care setting. Care Team Connect unites a cross-continuum care team to focus on a patient-specific care plan outlining precise actions driven by patient data. Client organizations leverage resources effectively and efficiently, gain real time visibility and ensure network partners follow chosen protocols. Care Team Connect: Healthcare the way it was meant to be delivered. To learn more, visit www.careteamconnect.com.