Health Centers Play Important Role in Indiana Health Information Exchange’s Quality Program

INDIANAPOLIS, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Seven separate community
health centers and federally qualified health centers in central Indiana are now
part of the Indiana Health Information Exchange’s (IHIE) quality initiative,
called the Quality Health First Program. Open Door Health Services, based in
Muncie, is the latest participant the program.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110324/MM71505LOGO-a)

Open Door joins Boone County Community Clinic, Citizens Health Center,
HealthNet, Madison County Community Health Center, Raphael Health Center and
Shalom Health Care Center.

Together, these centers provide care to nearly 100,000 underinsured and
uninsured Hoosiers at 19 locations throughout central Indiana. Several locations
serve populations that live in rural communities.

By participating in the Quality Health First Program, providers at these centers
are able to keep track of the health needs of their patients. They securely
receive a one page, patient-specific ‘snapshot’ outlining that patient’s needed
tests and screenings. The aim of the program is to help improve cancer
screenings rates and to support the management of medical conditions such as
diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. It also supports Indiana’s youngest
citizens, indicating which patients need well-child visits, and has a focus on
women’s health needs.

“The Quality Health First Program signifies our commitment to the HealthNet
mission, which is to make quality health services available to everyone who
walks through our doors,” said Dr. Don Trainor, Chief Medical Officer for
HealthNet. “It is the right thing to do for our patients and it helps our
physicians to be as efficient as possible so they can spend more quality time
with each patient during each appointment.”

The reports are based on over three billion pieces of clinical information,
along with claims information, to provide the most up-to-date, robust and
relevant information available. The program allows physicians to review and
verify the data, and to reconcile missing or inaccurate data.

The Quality Health First Program is also the cornerstone of the Central Indiana
Beacon Community, an effort led by IHIE. The Central Indiana Beacon Community is
part of a $2 billion investment by the federal government in 17 communities
across the country to demonstrate improvements in the delivery of care through
health information technology.

“A big part of the Beacon Community Program is a focus on efforts that better
support medically underserved populations,” said Aaron McKethan, Office of the
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Beacon Program Director.
“Additionally, we know that providing early interventions and consistent
follow-up care to those patients with chronic diseases is a critical step to
slowing the growth of health care spending. This program helps achieve both
missions, and could be looked upon as a potential model for other communities
across the nation.”

Madison County Community Health Center President and CEO Anthony Malone added,
“This program enables our physicians to know exactly what additional care our
patients need, no matter why they originally came in. This information is used
to help proactively maintain the health of all our patients, and it is
especially important in the care we provide to our most vulnerable patients.”

In addition to the health centers in central Indiana, Northshore Health Center
in northwest Indiana also participates in Quality Health First Program. In all,
over 1,700 providers statewide, who care for approximately 1.1 million Hoosiers,
are enrolled in the program.

About the Indiana Health Information Exchange
Indiana Health Information Exchange, Inc. (IHIE) is a non-profit corporation
formed in 2004 by the Regenstrief Institute, private hospitals, local and state
health departments, BioCrossroads and other prominent organizations in Indiana.
IHIE is the nation’s largest health information exchange organization,
delivering clinical information to providers securely and efficiently, along
with assembling information to assist providers as they care for patients
needing preventive care and management of chronic diseases. An IHIE-led
collaboration (Central Indiana Beacon Community) is one of 17 national
cooperatives to help advance healthcare quality and efficiency. This
collaboration will help communities in Indiana identify opportunities to
measurably improve patient care. To learn more, visit www.ihie.org.

Contact:
Jenny Siminski

Indiana Health Information Exchange
Office: (317) 644-1724
jsiminski@ihie.org

SOURCE Indiana Health Information Exchange