Caring for Patients After Hurricane Florence
With the storm now moving out of the state, much work remains to move displaced citizens back to their communities. At the time of this writing, over 15,000 residents in 150 shelters across the state wait for confirmation that they can return home.
For its part, the NC Department of Health and Human Services set up a central command center late last week to coordinate public health responses to the storm’s aftermath. In past storms, public health risks have included flood water filled with chemicals, sewage, and hog waste from lagoons; outbreaks of disease, and other epidemiological risks. The agency is also working to ensure that DHHS resources are available in medical shelters in High Point, Goldsboro and Clayton. Mobile response teams coordinated by both public and private sectors are working around the clock to get medical supplies and care to those in the hardest hit areas that have been cut off due to flooding.
For our part, NC HealthConnex last week enabled connectivity to neighboring state and regional HIEs to support access to patient records in preparation for the impacts of Hurricane Florence.
NC HealthConnex opened the gateway for bidirectional query and exchange of patient records via the national eHealth Exchange Network, part of the Sequoia Project, to the following:
- Coastal Connect HIE (Wilmington, NC)
- ETHIN (East Tennessee)
- GRAChiE (Augusta, Ga.)
- MedVirginia (Richamond, Va.)
- SCHIEX (South Carolina)
- Existing connections already in place:
- GaHIN (Georgia's statewide HIE)
- VA HIE (Veterans Administration)
In addition to reminding participants about the availability of the web-based portal for patient record exchange, the NC HIEA is coordinating with the DHHS Command Center to offer support for physicians providing care during this time of great need.
Related Articles:
Lessons from Florence: Set Up Advance HIE Connections
HIEs Hidden Heroes of Hurricane Season
Hospitals, TeleHealth Providers Prepare for Hurricane Florence
How HIE Leaders Have Prepared for Hurricane Florence
As Hurricane Florence Hits, HIEs Fill In
DHHS Takes New Approach to Storm Response
NC HealthConnex Announces NC*Notify, an Event Notification Service
Health care providers are often unaware when one of their patients has received care outside of their facility or EHR network. What’s more, there is a growing need for health care providers to be notified of certain events in a timely manner to support successful transitions of care and improve care management.
The North Carolina Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) is pleased to offer NC*Notify to full participants of NC HealthConnex. This event notification service will provide significant insight into patients’ health care activity across North Carolina. NC*Notify is a subscription-based service that notifies providers as their patients receive services across the care continuum, spanning geography, health care systems, acute and ambulatory care settings, etc. Features include:
- Highlight Provider Focus Areas: Custom lists allow cohorts of patients tuned to providers’ interest.
- Flexible Delivery: Custom delivery methods integrate into varied provider workflows.
NC*Notify is enrolling participants in a phased approach. Phase One will accept 10-15 participants immediately; Phase Two will accept an additional 100 participants, and Phase Three will be open to all full participants of NC HealthConnex. For more information on this new value-added feature, check out the information below.
Still have questions? Reach out to the NC HIEA provider relations team at (919) 754-6912 or via email at hiea@nc.gov.
Mark Your Calendar:
Health IT Summit in Raleigh – September 27 & 28
Join your Fellow NC Health IT Leaders for the Healthcare Informatics Health IT Summit! The Summit is a 1.5-day program September 27 & 28 located at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club in Raleigh. The program speaker line-up includes:
- Stephen Blackwelder, Chief Analytics Officer, Duke University Health System
- Ben Lunsford, Vice President, Value-Based Strategies, Humana
- Michael McCoy, Chief Executive Officer, Physicians Technology Services, Inc.
- Chi Huang MD, Executive Medical Director of General Medicine and Hospital Medicine Shared Services, Wake Forest Baptist Health System
National Health IT Week -- October 8-12, Catalyzing Change
The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) is a proud partner of National Health IT week, October 8-12, that is focused on catalyzing change in health care IT.
Comprehensive health care reform is not possible without system-wide adoption of health information technology, which improves the quality of healthcare delivery, increases patient safety, decreases medical errors, and strengthens the interaction between patients and healthcare providers.
“Our participation in National Health IT Week highlights our organization’s commitment to ensure health information technology is integrated, interactive, interoperable, and intelligent to support improved best patient outcomes,” said Christie Burris, NC HIEA executive director. “By working together, we can leverage the NC HealthConnex technology for the betterment of health care delivery in North Carolina.”
Founded by HIMSS and the Institute for e-Health Policy in 2006, the week-long celebration brings together the Administration, Congress, corporations, providers, and non-profit organizations around the country in recognizing the value of shining the spotlight on health IT initiatives.
Share #IHeartHIT Stories: How has health IT affected yours or a loved one’s health journey? Patients, family members, and caregivers are sharing #IHeartHIT Stories that demonstrate the personal side of health information and technology. These stories provide insight as to where we have had success and made true impacts, but also where there are still challenges and needed solutions. Personal stories go beyond statistics and demonstrate the true value of health IT. View stories and share your own.
NC HIEA Calendar of Events:
How to Connect Call –September 24, 2018 – Click here to register. Interested providers are invited to join a monthly "How to Connect" call to learn about who we are, the state mandate, steps to connect, and value-added features.
HIE Task Force - Thursday, September 20, 2018, 2-3:30 p.m., hosted by NCHICA.
HIEA Advisory Board Meeting – September 26, 2018, 2-5 p.m.
Questions? Contact NC HIEA at hiea@nc.gov or call (919) 754-6912.
In Other News
In Eastern North Carolina, an MD-Run ACO Shows its Success, Healthcare Informatics, September 2018
Top Ten Tech Trends 2018: A Patient-Generated Health Data Future is Becoming a Reality, Healthcare Informatics, September 2018