HomeMy WebLinkAboutchr-user-newsletter-07-2020-archiveCommunity Health Record (CHR) Newsletter
Dear CHR Users, Super Users, and Supervisors,
Welcome to Alameda County Care Connect’s (AC Care Connect’s) CHR Newsletter. We hope this
finds you safe and well during these unprecedented times. Here we share updates, user tips,
upcoming training, and a look at what’s ahead as we continue to enhance the CHR. We keep you
informed each month with news you can use including:
Stories of Impact: how the CHR supports whole person care
What’s New: new features / enhancements and other updates
Tips & Tricks: answers to frequently asked questions
What’s Next: upcoming enhancements
Upcoming Training and Resources: opportunities to learn
Data Corner: CHR usage statistics
Stories of Impact: How does the CHR support whole person care?
Getting homeless consumers housed
“The ability to view HMIS [Homeless Management Information System] information without an
ISA [Information Sharing Authorization] has enabled my team to support our highest risk patients
to access permanent supportive housing [PSH].”
Lilly MacRae, Manager, Outpatient Care Coordination, AHS Complex Care and Care Transitions Programs
Note: The ability to view this information is a temporary enhancement during the COVID-19 state-of-emergency.
“Clients come to us in crisis. They may not mention, or simply forget key information that can help
us in coordinating their care. With the CHR, we’ve been able to see so much more information
than in the past. One client didn’t know they had a rapid response housing manager. We were
able to reconnect them.”
Kristi Beckman, Quality & Compliance Administrator at Cherry Hill Detox & Sobering Center
Click here to learn more about whole person care.
What's New?
A lot has happened over the past few months. Highlights of changes and enhancements include:
The prototype Community Health Record (pCHR) officially sunset on June 1 . Over three
years, 118 users from eight organizations used the pCHR and provided valuable feedback
that supported the design of the CHR. Thank you to all who participated in this pilot!
ISAs must have a “wet” signature: County Counsel determined that federal law does not
waive release of information (ROI) type forms, like the Information Sharing Authorization
(ISA), during an emergency.
Consumers must sign a paper version of the ISA. As a result, the electronic form has been
removed from the CHR. To learn more, sign up for the upcoming ISA webinar on July 17.
(See Training Updates below).
As a CHR user, you now have access to much more information:
Permanent expansion of hospital use data for Care Connect eligibles : CHR users are able
to view hospital admission, transfer, and discharge data from many Bay Area hospitals in
the CHR. Click here to learn more.
Temporary data expansion (limited to the COVID-19 state-of-emergency):
The population viewable in the CHR has been expanded to include all Alameda
County residents who are enrolled in Medi-Cal, are Medi-Medi (have both Medi-
Cal and Medicare), or are uninsured. Over 600,000 consumer records are now
viewable in the CHR.
Consumers’ housing information from HMIS is now viewable without an ISA.
New information that you can access in the CHR includes:
Medication fill information in health plan claims!
Housing alerts that identify consumers eligible for permanent supportive housing (PSH).
Sign up to receive an email notification when a consumer you work with gets a new
housing alert added to their HMIS record. (See Tips & Tricks.)
FEMA shelter report, which shows consumers who are at one of the isolation and
quarantine hotels.
Effective June 1, Tri-City Health Center and Foothill Community Health Center merged to form
Bay Area Community Health (BACH). You will now see CHR users from BACH rather than Tri-City
in the CHR.
Tips & Tricks
We have many helpful resources to make it easier to use and navigate the CHR. Recent additions
include:
Completing and signing ISAs: To be valid, the ISA must be completely signed and filled
out. Instructions are here.
For questions: Contact the AC Care Connect Help Desk:
CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997 or
Request a virtual Elbow Support session; sign up here.
Setting up external alerts: Make sure to set-up the external alerts function so you’ll
receive email pings when there are important changes in the CHR for the consumers you
serve.
Learn more.
New tip sheets and other resources are posted on Elemeno on an ongoing basis.
New to Elemeno? Elemeno is an online platform containing tip-sheets, guides,
videos, and other resources for the CHR, as well as for services related to Care
Management, Health Plans, Housing, Mental Health, Primary Care, and Substance
Use Disorder Treatment. Please use the self-registration feature by clicking “First
time? Create an Account” and entering your organization email here.
What's Next?
In upcoming months, we will continue to add more CHR users and to improve the CHR.
Highlights are:
Care Community #2 ended in June. Over the past six months, 24 participants from
eight organizations participated in collaborative learning and practical application
sessions focused on using the CHR. With the continued COVID-19 state-of-
emergency, we are turning our focus to the 100 Day Challenge to Fight
Homelessness.
100 Day Challenge to Fight Homelessness: Last December, Governor Newsom
launched the 100-day challenge initiative to engage cities and counties across the
state in fighting homelessness. In June, Alameda County implemented a 100-day
challenge focused on developing viable housing plans for at least 400 consumers
currently residing in its Project Roomkey COVID-19 isolation and quarantine hotels
for persons experiencing homelessness. In this effort, we will engage closely with
our partners who are operating out of the hotels, including Abode Services and
Building Futures.
Wave 3 launched this month: We are actively planning the next wave of training
and on-boarding. Wave 3 will run from July through September 2020. We are still
finalizing the participant list, and will share the list of programs and organizations
in the August newsletter.
Improving the CHR user interface : We are working with Thrasys, the vendor for the
CHR, to implement improvements that will better group the most critical pieces of
information on a face sheet or summary page in the CHR. In June, we held several
listening sessions with CHR users to gather input. We will update you as changes
are implemented.
Upcoming Training and Resources
There are many ways to learn more about the CHR and to get your questions answered. Check
out these trainings and resources:
Webinar on 7/17, 1 - 2 pm: Collecting ISAs in Times of COVID and General Q&A.
Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5268051987071489805
Virtual Elbow Support Office Hour session for trained CHR users, 7/29, 11 am - noon:
Stop by any time during the hour to ask any questions you have about using the CHR. Dial
in: (669) 900-6833 and use meeting ID: 969 4348 0847 or join via zoom:
https://intrepidascent.zoom.us/j/96943480847
CHR Make-up Session, 7/29, 1 - 4 pm: This webinar is for CHR users who have never been
trained, but are staff of a program previously on-boarded. It is not for on-boarding new
programs to the CHR. Register here:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6303762253663236110
Elbow Support sessions: Complete this form to schedule a virtual elbow support session :
https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/a2b088e2be854110bd149dd6433cf732
Onboarding new programs to the CHR: To onboard new programs to the CHR, please
complete this form:
https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/dd6d97d97097489a91249b9284601400
Recordings of past webinars are available here.
Data Corner
In recent months, CHR use has increased significantly. As of the end of June:
575 persons have been trained as CHR users and have CHR user accounts.
Of these, 487 have logged into the CHR.
In June, a total of 105 CHR users were trained—more than double the number
trained in May, and the second highest number since the CHR was launched (Sept
2019).
A total of 19 organizations are using the CHR. These represent the full spectrum of
entities participating in delivering whole person care: health systems,
clinics/FQHCs, and health plans; and housing, mental/behavioral health, substance
use treatment, and other providers.
The top four (4) organizations using the CHR, based on number of users who have
logged in are:
Bay Area Community Services (BACS): 70
LifeLong: 50
Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services (ACBH): 39
Abode Services: 32
BACS was the first organization to have more than 100 staff attend a training, and
its staff has also spent the most time using the CHR (duration in the CHR).
Questions?
Contact the AC Care Connect Help Desk at:
CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997
AC Care Connect Steering Committee Members
Aaron Chapman, Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services | Kathleen Clanon, M.D., Alameda County Care Connect | Scott
Coffin, Alameda Alliance for Health | Lori Cox, Alameda County Social Services Agency | Elaine de Coligny, Everyone Home |
Delvecchio Finley, Alameda Health System | Colleen Chawla, Health Care Services Agency | Beau Hennemann, Anthem | John
Jones III, East Oakland Black Cultural Zone and Just Cities | Karl Sporer, M.D., Alameda County Emergency Medical Services |
Wendy Peterson, Senior Services Coalition | Ralph Silber, Alameda Health Consortium | Wendy Still, Alameda County Probation |
Suzanne Warner, Housing and Community Development
www.accareconnect.org