8/7/2019 Beacon Newsletter Final

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/beacon-newsletter-final 1/2

DELTA HEALTH ALLIANCE • SOLUTIONS FOR A HEALTHY TOMORROW

BLUES Beacon CommIN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA

e Delta Health Alliance BLUES Beacon projectis dedicated to expanding the adoption of electronichealth records (EHR) and connecting those recordsthrough health information exchanges (HIE).More than 200 organizations and agencies nationally submitted proposals to the federal government for theopportunity to receive the limited number of Beacongrants. e Delta Health Alliance is one of only 17organizations that was selected to set an example, toserve as a Beacon, for the way electronic records andelectronic networks can advance the delivery of health care.

e goal of these grants is to achieve measurableimprovements in health care quality, safety andeffi ciency, and also lay the groundwork for anemerging health information technology industry.e BLUES (Better Living Utilizing ElectronicSystems) Beacon grant will bring the best informationtechnology to the Delta as a way of bringing doctors,hospitals, community health programs, federalprograms, and patients together to improve quality and effi ciency to benefit patients and taxpayers.

is vision is this: all health care providers in theMississippi Delta – doctors, hospitals, pharmacists,nursing homes, home-health agencies – will beelectronically connected in a way that drastically changes the landscape of how every provider can work together to ensure the highest level of health care.

 What does this mean: there will not be a doctor’sblack bag anymore. Only a tablet-size personalcomputer. No hard-to-read handwrittenprescriptions. Just a mouse-click transmission to any pharmacy, anywhere in the country. No charts orbulky paper records. Simply a series of commandsthat keeps every aspect of a patient’s care in a virtual world. Improved effi ciency. Increased patient safety.Better doctor-patient communication. More accurateand complete medical records. Transmissions aresecure and HIPAA compliant. It all translates into aneven higher level of care for Delta residents.

The Delta Health Alliance is giving new meaning to the wthanks to a $14.7 million dollar grant from the U.S. Deparand Human Services and its American Recovery Act BeacProgram. This grant will support the Delta Health AlliancUtilizing Electronic Systems (BLUES) project.

The BLUES project is a collaboration of the Delta Health various agencies in the Delta and across the state to brininformation technologies in the Mississippi Delta to a new

establishing and supporting networks of Electronic Healtsystems and then connecting them together.

The ultimate goal over the three-year program period is tDelta itself, then connect the Delta with a similar statewidhealth information records. T hese networks are called HInformation Exchanges (HIE). They dramatically expand thealth care information available to health care professiopatients and expedite the flow of information. Better infmore timely information will lead to better care while red

 ABOUT DELTA HEALTH ALLIANCE

e Delta Health Alliance, founded in 2006, is changing health care inthe Mississippi Delta by improving access to health care and providingeducation for healthier lifestyles. We accomplish this mission by linkingthe three major universities that serve the Delta with the University of Mississippi Medical Center a nd with the Delta Counci l, the region’seconomic development organization; by using the latest findings from thefields of science, medicine, and public health to define our programs; by regularly assessing every one of our initiatives on the basis of objective

statistical data; and by accomplishing our work through community partners, recognizing that long-lasting change only occurs fromthe bottom up.

e key is for everyone to work together toward the common goal of changing the way health care is delivered. Bringing about that change,nurturing that change, and building on that change is what the DeltaHealth Alliance is all about.

DELTA H EALTH ALLIA NCE

 Post Office Box 277 • Stoneville, MS 38776

Contact us for more information:

662-686-7004 or visit us at:

www.deltahealthalliance.org

or on facebook or twitter.

SERVICE AREA

www.deltahealthalliaPAGE 4

 A PROGRAM CALLED

BEACON

TM

8/7/2019 Beacon Newsletter Final

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/beacon-newsletter-final 2/2

diabetic patients. e BLUES Beacon Commis actively looking for partners to assist in the mentation of these programs. If you are interbecoming a partner, please contact the BeaconCommunity Director at 662-686-7004.

Improvements for Patients and the Community 

 Widespread use of EHRs and health informaexchange means that medical history will be aable when a patient seeks care from another pBy looking at that history, the provider will seother professionals have prescribed and the hi

that patient’s lab results. is will help facilitamore accurate and more effi cient diagnosis an Providers will improve their current care by hadditional staff to help patients navigate the hcare system. ey will also have new electroncalled “Care Guides” that provide evidence baclinical decisions support. It is in this way thproviders can recommend the best, most up-ttreatment for a patient’s care. Health information technology can also allowto become more active in their own care. For  when patients can see the tracked results of laresults via their own personal health record, ththe connection between their daily habits andmedication adherence and their health outcom

rough a program with the University of MSchool of Pharmacy, patients will receive montelephone calls to see if they have questions abmedications or how to take them. It is hopedprogram will help reduce the negative impactincluding hospital and nursing home admissiand automobile accidents – of mis-used or unprescription medications.

 

 

 

t

 t

 – -

T E R M S T O K N O W

care management: Where a health care practice main-tains continuous relationships withpatients by implementing evidence-based guidelines and applying themto the identified needs of individualpatients over time with the intensityneeded by patients health information exchange (HIE):The application of informationprocessing involving both computerhardware and software for thestorage, retrieval, and processing of health care information, data, andknowledge for communication anddecision making electronic health records (EHR): An electronic health record generatedand maintained with an organization,such as a hospital, integrated deliverynetwork, clinic, or physician office, togive patients, physicians, and otherhealth care providers, employers, and

payers or insurers access to a patient’smedical records throughout the orga-nization as permitted by law evidence-based medicine:The use of research and scientificstudies as a base for determining thebest practices in a field. Evidence-based medicine provides transparencyand assures the public that techniquesand procedures will provide the bestpossible interventions or treatments. medication adherence: Adherence to (or compliance with)a medication regimen is generallydefined as the extent to whichpatients take medications as

prescribed by their health careproviders. clinical decision support:A clinical system, application orprocess that helps health profession-als make clinical decisions to enhancepatient care.

What Does the BLUESBeacon Community Project Mean for the Delta?

e Mississippi Delta struggles with aparticularly high rate of diabetes —approximately 13 percent of residents,compared with a national average of seven percent. is region has a low 

number of health care providers and health care facilities, with resultant low access to health care, which is reflected by the very poor health statistics in theMississippi Delta. To combat this, the DHA BLUES Beacon Community is dedicated toadvancing delivery of care for residents of the Mississippi Delta who willultimately benefit from a health care delivery system that is more costeffi cient and easier to navigate . e BLUES (Better Living UtilizingElectronic Systems) Beacon Community will focus on improving the healthof people living with diabetes, but the overall goal is to improve the healthof all people living in the Delta, using proven practice and informationtechnology. We aim to make it easier for residents of the Delta to access care. 

Goal of the Program

e goal of the BLUES Beacon Community is to improve access to care fordiabetic patients to create a community dedicated to improving health in theDelta. e community will do this by the meaningful use of electronic healthrecords (EHRs) and health information exchange by primary care providersin the Mississippi Delta. e program also seeks to increase the effi ciency of health care in the area by reducing excess health care costs for patients withdiabetes through the use of EHR-related interventions that will: 

Using Health IT to Make a Difference

e BLUES Beacon Community will provide support for the use of bestpractices in clinical care as well as in the implementation of EHRs in theMississippi Delta. e program will also help to build the infrastructure forhealth information exchange that will connect these providers with each otherand with local hospitals and will allow them to work more effectively andcooperatively to improve the disease management of their patients.

e implementation of EHRs and health informationexchange provides an opportunity to redesign processes within practices and throughout the health care systemin the area in order to:

e BLUES Beacon Community will also address

significant barriers to the implementation of EHR andtelemedicine initiatives in the area, including the lack of high speed telecommunication lines, physician andstaff acceptance to change, and the lack of fully implemented Practice Management systems in theprovide r’s offi ce. 

 A Team Approach

e Delta Health Alliance (DHA) is a partnershipfounded by Delta State University, Mississippi StateUniversity, Mississippi Valley State University,University of Mississippi Medical Center, and DeltaCouncil. e mission of Delta Health Alliance is toadvocate, develop and implement collaborativeprojects that: increase access and availability of health

care in the Delta; conduct and apply research of healthproblems and issues to reduce ill health among Deltaresidents; and offer health education programs thatencourage and enable Delta residents to adopt goodhealth practices. DHA staff also work with the Mississippi RegionalExtension Center to provide education to providers who use EHRs regarding the application of bestpractice solutions and care guides to improve care for

 What Does the BLUES Beacon Community Project Mean for the Delta? 

• Encourage the use of best practices for the managementof diabetes and related conditions

• Reduce preventable hospital stays due to diabetes

• Provide more accurate billing information

• Promote best practices in chronic diseasemanagement and care coordination

• Improve monitoring systems for

diabetes control

• Enhance patient education efforts sothat patients have the information theyneed to manage their conditions

• Set up providers to achieve meaningfuluse of EHRs

• Ensure that health information can flowreliably and securely among authorizedparties, and

• Improve effectiveness and efficienciesin the practice setting, including betterpatient outcomes.

www.deltahealthalliance.oPAGE 2