Is your health center currently in the process of considering, implementing, or revamping a social needs screening program within your EHR or health IT system? This learning collaborative taught participants about health center promising practices and key considerations to support the successful collection, monitoring, and addressing of social needs data. During the series, participants explored the levels of maturity in the social needs screening implementation process.

The levels of maturity included: 

• Level 1: Coming to Consensus
• Level 2: Implementing a Social Needs Screening Tool
• Level 3: Responding to Positive Screens
• Level 4: Monitoring and Using Data

Participants gained information on concrete strategies and IT solutions that have helped to improve internal systems, such as EHR utilization and care team workflows, and increase their capacity to advance individual and population-level health. The HITEQ Center partnered with the Louisiana Primary Care Association to design this series. Louisiana-based health centers were showcased throughout the series to share their experiences with social needs screening, including successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

Is your health center currently in the process of considering, implementing, or revamping a social needs screening program within your EHR or health IT system? Join this learning collaborative to learn about health center promising practices and key considerations to support the successful collection, monitoring, and addressing of social needs data. During the series, participants explored the levels of maturity in the social needs screening implementation process. The levels of maturity included: 

• Level 1: Coming to Consensus
• Level 2: Implementing a Social Needs Screening Tool
• Level 3: Responding to Positive Screens
• Level 4: Monitoring and Using Data

Addressing patients’ social determinants of health via community resource referrals has historically primarily been the domain of social workers and information and referral specialists; however, community resource referral technology platforms have more recently entered the market. The process surrounding these community resource referrals and the role of technologies within it has not been fully accounted for just yet. Based on focus groups with  healthcare providers, and community organization staff and volunteers from 3 cities in Metropolitan Detroit, the process of community resource referral were described. Findings reveal a deeply "sociotechnical" process (involving interwoven social and technology-based elements). The detailed sociotechnical process revealed were discussed, along with the implications for those currently implementing community resource referrals. The importance of knowledge and skills, personal relationships, interorganizational networks, and data sources such as service directories in the referral process were discussed.

Join the HITEQ Center to discuss approaches to balance patient confidentiality, sensitive situations, vulnerable populations, and meeting the provisions in CURES act and information blocking. How should health centers best prepare themselves and their staff to meet the information blocking provisions and better serve our patient population?

As HRSA BPHC's UDS+ and other granular data reporting programs approach, health centers are at varying levels of awareness and readiness. The HITEQ Center offered a virtual office hours series to discuss the following:

• The mechanisms of future reporting via bulk FHIR submission
• The future state where health centers are ready for UDS+ and other patient level reporting.
• Readiness processes for future reporting via bulk FHIR submission, including strong data governance, standardized documentation, and mapping. 
• Health IT and data characteristics of future-focused healt
   

Patient engagement through electronic health apps are one solution to the need for timely and ongoing patient support. Join us to discuss a program to support mental health through an integrated behavioral health model using a mental health app at Cambridge Health Alliance. The session discussed how apps can address gaps in mental health care, the lessons learned in effective implementation of use of a mental health app in a safety-net clinic, and provide a rubric for evaluating health apps for your patients and use in your mental health service.

Health centers are interested in implementing remote patient monitoring (RPM), but are struggling to do so efficiently and completely because of policy, social, and technology barriers combined with staffing and time pressure. To support health centers in the strategic implementation of RPM, the HITEQ Center launched a free learning collaborative -- Health Center Remote Patient Monitoring and Digital Health.  This learning collaborative provided participating health centers a series of four structured virtual learning sessions. 

During the series participants engaged with subject matter experts and their colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Topics included: defining the problem that RPM could address; determining the appropriate RPM technology solution; set-up and implementation of RPM technology and processes within an organization; and evaluation, sustainability and scaling RPM to ensure efficiency and value. Participants gained information on key considerations for each of these components of implementation of RPM.

This session sought to motivate and educate Health Center staff and leadership on current critical cybersecurity threats, concepts, and methods for the defense of health data. A panel of cybersecurity experts addressed questions on how to best protect the health center from both internal and external network leaks, through malware such as ransomware, and through physical means on-site.

This learning collaborative by the HITEQ Center allowed participants to learn about health center promising practices and key considerations to support the successful collection, monitoring, and addressing of social needs data. During the series participants explored the levels of maturity in the social needs screening implementation process. Participants gained information on concrete strategies and IT solutions to help improve internal systems, such as EHR utilization and care team workflows, and increase their capacity to advance individual and population-level health.  Health center exemplars were also showcased.

This learning collaborative presented by the HITEQ Center allowed participants to learn about health center promising practices and key considerations to support the successful collection, monitoring, and addressing of social needs data. During the series participants explored the levels of maturity in the social needs screening implementation process. Participants gained information on concrete strategies and IT solutions that will help to improve internal systems, such as EHR utilization and care team workflows, and increase their capacity to advance individual and population-level health. Health center exemplars will be showcased.

The HITEQ Center put on this learning collaborative to learn about health center promising practices and key considerations to support the successful collection, monitoring, and addressing of social needs data. During the series participants explored the levels of maturity in the social needs screening implementation process. Participants gained information on concrete strategies and IT solutions that helped to improve internal systems, such as EHR utilization and care team workflows, and increase their capacity to advance individual and population-level health. Health center exemplars were showcased.

This learning collaborative by the HITEQ Center to discussed health center promising practices and key considerations to support the successful collection, monitoring, and addressing of social needs data. During the series participants explored the levels of maturity in the social needs screening implementation process. Participants gained information on concrete strategies and IT solutions that will help to improve internal systems, such as EHR utilization and care team workflows, and increase their capacity to advance individual and population-level health.  Health center exemplars will be showcased.

Access to care is the essential work of health centers, and one pain point is how to ensure specialty access for health center patients. This webinar will discuss innovation in specialty care access using technology and e-Consults. Electronic consultations (“e-consults”) are asynchronous, consultative, provider-to-provider communications within a shared electronic health record (EHR) or web-based platform. E-consults are intended to improve access to specialty expertise for patients and providers without the need for a face-to-face visit.  The Maven Project joined the webinar to talk about the particular challenges in specialty care access in health centers and how e-consults can both improve access and support clinicians, including to help to reduce stress and burnout. The Maven Project supports front-line providers in delivering comprehensive care to patients at health centers and community clinics nationwide.

The importance of effective pediatric immunization strategies cannot be understated at this moment in public health. Given all the potential barriers to access, how can technology support primary care in improving systems for effective vaccine uptake? Hear from Dr. Melissa Stockwell, whose research includes translational health IT interventions to promote vaccination as well as the use of large-scale, patient-centered communication technologies, like text messaging, for surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases and adverse events. Dr. Stockwell is Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Health and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) and Population and Family Health (Mailman School of Public Health). She is Founding Director of the Department of Pediatrics' Center for Children's Digital Health Research.

This HITEQ Highlights webinar presented promising practices and key considerations informed by health centers across the US who are successfully collecting, monitoring, and addressing social need data. 

Health centers are increasingly interested in implementing social need screening tools to identify ways to advance whole-person care and community-level health. However, implementing social needs screening tools requires a great deal of investment with regards to securing buy-in from leadership and staff, configuring the EHR, and developing processes and workflows for addressing positive screens. While addressing social needs in the context of healthcare is not new, systematically collecting, monitoring, and acting on data is an emerging space. With many health centers now trialing this implementation process, there are a number of promising practices that might be valuable to health centers considering this next step. This webinar offered key takeaways and examples to guide health centers through the implementation process, or help health centers with existing social needs screening programs to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement in their EHRs and workflows.

This was the second of the approximately 5 listening sessions HITEQ is hosting through the end of 2022. The purpose of these listening sessions is to understand the gaps in resources and guidance for health centers in specific areas of focus. HITEQ is bringing HCCNs and PCAs to the table for these in order to get the invaluable perspective of those who work with the health centers each day as well as where HITEQ can share valuable national insight.

PCAs and HCCNs who are working on SDoH-specific activities with their health centers, as well as those considering ways to assist their health centers with social risk screening should join for peer sharing. Register using the form below or email HITEQinfo@jsi.com to join!

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focuses on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. Apply to join this health center learning collaborative here.  

Health centers will participate in four structured virtual sessions where they will engage with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics will include: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows,  aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series is particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

Learning Collaborative Structure and Expectations: 

• All sessions will be hosted by HITEQ using Zoom Meeting and start at 12:00 ET.  The sessions will last about 90 minutes.

• The learning collaborative is open to staff of health center organizations across the nation. Primary Care Associations and Health Center Controlled Networks are welcome to attend with a health center in their network.

• It is ideal for health centers to identify a team of 2 – 3 multidisciplinary staff to attend each session. Teams may include staff in leadership, IT, quality improvement, and/or clinical roles.

• Sessions will be interactive and engaging. Participants are encouraged to join by video.

• Health center teams will have homework following sessions 1, 2 and 3.  

All sessions are scheduled to begin at 12:00 ET and will last 90 minutes. The session schedule is:

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The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focused on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. 

Health centers participated in four structured virtual sessions where they engaged with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics included: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows, aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series was particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focused on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. 

Health centers participated in four structured virtual sessions where they engaged with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics included: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows, aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series is particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.