HomeMy WebLinkAboutchr-user-newsletter-12-2020-1--archiveCommunity Health Record (CHR) User Newsletter
December 2020
Dear CHR Users, Super Users, and Supervisors,
Welcome to our December CHR User newsletter! Here you’ll find updates on recent and
planned improvements and enhancements to increase the Community Health Record’s
(CHR’s) usefulness to your work and benefits to consumer care, links to useful resources,
and the schedule for upcoming trainings.
Topics include:
Organizations with the most CHR users trained
The value the CHR brings to whole person care
New features and enhancements and other updates
Answers to frequently asked questions
Upcoming enhancements
Opportunities to develop your skills
CHR usage stats
If you are new to our mailing list and didn’t receive prior issues, you can find them here.
We wish you and your loved ones a peaceful and healthy holiday season. As we reflect on
all that we accomplished together over this particularly challenging year we are amazed at
the achievements made possible with your partnership. We look forward to working with
you in the coming year to advance our shared vision to improve the health status of the
most vulnerable individuals in our community.
Top Three Organizations
As of December 9th, the organizations with the most CHR users trained were:
Bay Area Community Services: 129 users
Alameda County Behavioral Health: 112 users
LifeLong Medical Care: 72 users
Impact Story: How the CHR is being used to support whole person care
We are grateful to all of you who share the many ways that the Community Health Record (CHR) is
helping you coordinate care and improve health outcomes. Your stories help others learn how the
CHR can support their work with consumers.
This month’s story was shared by Lai Meng Ieong, LMFT Behavioral Health Clinician II.
Lai uses the CHR in her work with Crisis Connect, a partnership between
ACBH and AC Care Connect. The project offers consumers who are not
high-utilizers a phone call within 24-48 hours after discharge from John
George Psychiatric Hospital’s (JGPH’s) emergency services unit, a Crisis
Stabilization Unit, or the mobile crisis team. The goal is to avoid another
crisis by assessing the consumer’s needs post-discharge and connecting
them with needed services and resources.
Lai typically receives a discharge list from John George PES each day which has each client’s name
and phone number so she can conduct outreach to her clients. However often the phone number
that she is given is disconnected or a wrong number that the client provided at a moment of crisis.
Lai then turns to Clinician’s Gateway and Crisis Tracking database to find information on the client.
Unfortunately, there is often no phone number filed and the medical history in Clinician’s
Gateway may not be complete or current. Lai then researches the client in the CHR and is usually
able to find a current phone number for the client and/or a phone number of a relative or friend.
She tries these numbers until she reaches the client or a relative/friend who can help connect her
to the client. Lai is also able to find current medical history in the CHR such as information on
where the client was seen which gives her a more complete picture of the client’s hospitalizations.
Lai told us that “in almost every case when I check the CHR I am able to find updated information
on the client’s hospitalizations and where they have been seen.”
Lai shared a story that illustrates how she uses the CHR. A young man in his 20s was discharged
from John George PES but there was no contact information provided to Lai and no information in
Clinician’s Gateway. Lai looked in the CHR and found the client’s mother’s phone number. She
called the mother and spoke with her. To preserve the client’s confidentiality Lai could not tell the
mother why she was calling. She asked the mother to take her phone number down and ask the
client (her son) to call Lai back. The son, who was unsheltered at the time, called Lai the next day.
With the client’s consent Lai was able to talk with the mother to share the client’s need for
services. The client was eventually connected with Abode Services.
Share your stories and help others learn more about the benefits of robust CHR utilization. Please
contact the Helpdesk at CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997
What's New?
Super User Workgroup celebrates first anniversary and rolls out new format for 2021.
Alameda County (AC) Care Connect launched the Super User Workgroup in December 2019
to bring CHR users from across partner organizations together to share their experience in
adopting and using the tool and to provide feedback on the tool and the training approach.
Partner organizations were encouraged to designate at least one staff person to attend the
monthly Workgroup meetings and engage in collaborative problem-solving for users, help
identify needed enhancements, and brainstorm ways to increase adoption and effectiveness
of the CHR for care coordination. During this month’s meeting participants reflected on
enhancements and upgrades that workgroup members identified and AC Care Connect
implemented during 2020 as a result of their input.
With more than a year of experience using the CHR and more than 800 people across 27
organizations trained as CHR users since the launch of the tool, we are changing the focus
of the Workgroup to meet evolving needs. The meetings will focus on more advanced
training for Super Users so they can provide more onsite support to CHR users at their
respective organizations. We will also require all organizations with CHR users to have at
least one Super User who will attend all Workgroup meetings.
In 2021, Super User Workgroup meetings will be held the
first Tuesday of the month from 2:30 – 4:00 pm. The
Workgroup will not meet in January and the new format of
the Super User Workgroup will launch at the February 2
meeting. For questions or more information, contact Carla
Justice cjustice@pcgus.com
Celebrating our shared 2020 accomplishments—SHIE and CHR. On December 9, the California
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), which oversees the whole person care pilots, hosted
an appreciation event for all pilots during which pilots shared their top three accomplishments of
2020. Among our top three is the work that we accomplished in partnership with all of you and
your organizations. This includes developing the Social Health Information Exchange (SHIE), which
significantly transformed the county’s data integration efforts and that now contains over 600,000
consumer records; and the launch of the CHR, which provides care teams a “whole person”
picture of a client’s history and priorities. The CHR now contains data from 14 sources and
providers from over 100 programs in 27 organizations and contains 78,000 AC Care Connect
eligible consumers and 22,000 AC Care Connect enrolled consumers. Communication and care
coordination across sectors has been significantly enhanced thanks to your use of the CHR.
EMS data is now in the SHIE as of 12/4/20. We will share more information about this data in the
January newsletter. For now, encounter information from EMS is now viewable under the
“Encounters” tab of the client’s record when applicable.
Jail data is now available in the CHR and updated on an hourly basis. Reports are available in the
“Analytics” section and include:
Jail Census: a list of consumers associated with your organization who are currently
incarcerated at Santa Rita jail
Jail Encounters: a list of all incarcerations at Santa Rita jail for consumers associated with
your organization
Housing data is now refreshed in the CHR Monday - Saturday: In the past, the Clarity housing
data was refreshed weekly and then this increased to three times per week. As of the end of
November this data is uploaded to the SHIE/CHR six times per week (Monday - Friday, and
Sunday). The refreshed housing data is now reflected in the CHR Monday-Saturday at 8 am.
The Social Health Information Exchange (SHIE) is a valuable population health management
tool. We are leveraging the SHIE to help identify and address needs at a population level in the
following ways:
Identifying which populations are utilizing respite care in order to partner with health
plans in planning for CalAIM in-lieu-of-services (ILOS).
Helping with contact tracing to support immediate FEMA shelter operations and
eventually public health outreach efforts.
Developing a Care Insights dashboard that helps identify overlap in various social
determinants of health (SDOH) in each population and identifies key community
partners addressing these issues who may be engaged to support care coordination
and outreach efforts. This includes analytics to show geographic distribution of those
who are most vulnerable/high utilizers and predictive risk modeling for various target
populations (e.g., those who are unsheltered, those who have chronic conditions).
Tips & Tricks
In the past month, we’ve added the following resources to Elemeno:
Connecting Your Client to the ACBHCS Substitute Payee Program
Connecting your Client to a Lanterman Petris-Short (LPS) Conservatorship
Housing Services Syllabus
Creating Your Client's Housing Plan
Steering Committee Updates
Flyer and information on the Mam Community Outreach Team which is conducting outreach to
help prevent and reduce the spread of COVID-19.
What's Next?
Important update! Version 3.0 of the Information Sharing Authorization (ISA) is available
for immediate use.
NOTE: ISAs completed with version 2.0 will no longer be valid after Jan 31, 2021.
What changed in ISA 3.0? Based on your feedback, we’ve made changes to the Special
Permissions section of the ISA where consumers indicate that they read the special
permissions section for sharing mental health treatment information and HIV test results. In
the prior version (2.0) consumers needed to put their initials next to both types of
information to confirm that they read the section. If they wanted the information shared,
they also had to check a box next to the type of information they wanted shared. The new
ISA form does not require initials. The consumer can simply check a “yes” or “no” box to
indicate whether they give permission to share each type of information. The new form
along with detailed instructions on how to complete it can be found on Elemeno or AC Care
Connect's website.
Be on the lookout for our January CHR end-user survey: We implemented several changes
and enhancements to the CHR and our CHR user trainings as a result of your responses to
our August CHR end-user survey. Starting in January we plan to conduct brief surveys of
CHR end-users on a quarterly basis. Please look for an email in early-mid January inviting
you to click and take the next survey. By participating you help us identify needed
enhancements and support to maximize the tool’s usefulness to you and the consumers
you serve.
FEMA shelter report update: We are adding exit information to the FEMA Shelter report to
support care coordination as clients transition out of the isolation hotels. More information
will be shared in the January newsletter.
Resources and Upcoming Trainings
We offer many ways to learn about the CHR and get your questions answered. These are
tailored to your needs.
Already attended a training, but need a refresher? This training is for you! This two-hour
participatory session for current CHR users covers primary components of the data privacy
framework and includes a demo of key "impact moves" in the CHR.
Register here for the session on Monday, December 21 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Register here for the session on Thursday, January 14 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Missed a training? Attend a CHR make-up training. This is for CHR users who have never
been trained and are staff of a program previously onboarded. After completing the
training, attendees receive their CHR username and password and are able to access the
CHR.
Register here for the session on Wednesday, January 6 from 9:00 am - noon
Register here for the session on Monday, January 25 from 1:00 - 4:00 pm
CHR Training for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) providers. Note: This is for SUD providers who
have “view-only” access to the CHR to comply with 42 CFR Part II privacy regulations. You’ll
learn what data is shared in the CHR and how it applies to your work, the nine primary
functions you can use within the CHR to coordinate care for consumers, and how to access
the CHR at your organization. The training will be on Wednesday, January 13 from 10:00 am
- 12:30 pm. Register here.
Need quick support? Stop by our Elbow Support Office Hour. Office hours are the third
Wednesday of each month from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. This is for trained CHR users. No
registration is required and you may drop in at any time during the zoom session. The next
session is Wednesday, January 20 (11:00 am - noon). Click here to join.
Need additional support? Schedule a customized Elbow Support session. Does your team
need some post-training support on how to use the CHR? Elbow Support sessions are
opportunities for one person or small groups/teams of current CHR users to access
additional support and training. Our team can customize the session to your group’s needs
and schedule it at a time that works for you. During these sessions we typically:
Discuss important program updates that might be useful for your team such as new
data sources, reports, and alerts
Provide refresher training on specific actions in the CHR such as adding yourself to
the care team
Review analytics and reports that can support your work
Share examples of how other organizations are incorporating the CHR into their
workflow
Answer any questions you have and discuss how the CHR can fit into the work your
team does
Please contact Keira Armstrong
(keira@intrepidascent.com)
or click here to schedule a session.
New to the CHR? Click here to sign-up to onboard new programs to the CHR.
Missed a webinar? Recordings of past webinars are available here.
Have ideas for webinars? Do you have a topic you would like us to review at an upcoming
webinar? Send your ideas to careconnecthelp@acgov.org.
New to Elemeno? Elemeno is an online platform containing tip-sheets, guides, videos, and
other resources for the CHR and for services related to Care Management, Health Plans,
Housing, Mental Health, Primary Care, and Substance Use Disorder Treatment. Use the self-
registration feature by clicking “First time? Create an Account” and entering your
organization email here.
Data Corner
We continue to experience high demand for CHR user training. Recent statistics
include:
In November we trained a total of 50 new CHR users which was double the
number trained in October.
As of early December, 814 persons have been trained as CHR users and have
CHR user accounts.
Since launching the CHR in late 2019, we’ve conducted trainings for CHR users
in a total of 27 organizations.
The CHR is supporting care coordination for Project RoomKey hotel guests. As
mentioned in prior newsletters the CHR has been instrumental in supporting care
coordination for AC Care Connect enrollees who are guests at the Project RoomKey
(PRK) hotels and in helping care team members connect guests with primary care,
housing, and other essential services and resources. The graph below shows the
distribution of guests of PRK hotels by AC Care Connect status. The numbers are
based on unique counts of consumers who have ever been at a hotel. Multiple hotel
stays for the same consumer at the same hotel are counted as one (one consumer).
Stays at different hotels by the same consumer are counted as one stay per hotel.
The hotels with the most guests and the most AC3 enrolled and AC3 eligible
individuals—Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, and Radisson Inn—are the largest hotels and
were the first to open during the weeks immediately following the mid-March
implementation of the first COVID-19 shelter-in-place order in Alameda County.
Note: AC3 Enrolled (ineligible) refers to consumers who are enrolled in an AC Care Connect program but
who are no longer eligible for AC Care Connect. This is a very small number of consumers and happens
when a consumer falls out of the target population due to change in status.
Questions?
Contact the AC Care Connect Help Desk at:
CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997
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Visit our website
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