HomeMy WebLinkAboutchr-newsletter-1st-quarter-2025-ac3-listCommunity Health Record (CHR) User Newsletter
February 2025
Welcome to Alameda County Health’s quarterly Community Health Record (CHR) User
Newsletter where you will find important updates, training opportunities, tips, and
resources. We hope you find these updates helpful to your work. If you are new to
our mailing list, you can find previous issues here.
SHIE Staff Profile
Jennifer Wong, SHIE Strategic Program Data
Specialist
Welcome to the SHIE Staff Profile where we feature
a member of our staff to showcase how they
support the Social Health Information Exchange
(SHIE). This is an opportunity to celebrate the work
of those with the skills essential to the success of the
SHIE and the Community Health Record (CHR).
This quarter we present SHIE Strategic Program
Data Specialist, Jennifer Wong. Jennifer supports
strategy and program development for the SHIE
team. Jennifer’s experience using data to measure
health outcomes for both health care providers and
health plans has shaped her vision of how data
exchange can facilitate improving care.
Jennifer joined the SHIE team in June 2022 as the CHR Engagement Manager,
onboarding organizations to the CHR and improving utilization of the tool by existing
users. She took on the daunting task of redesigning the CHR’s housing details tab,
translating housing information from the Housing Management Information System
(HMIS) to make it easily understandable by all CHR users. Her role soon evolved to
focus on strategy.
“My mindset switched maybe six months in from just promoting the use of the CHR to
a broader approach of promoting data exchange for improvement, using the CHR as a
tool. So just having that perspective helped me talk to different stakeholders to really
identify their data gaps and learn what they value in terms of data to help build
future solutions and tools and services of the SHIE.”
Jennifer developed an interest in transforming health care early in her career while
working at the UCSF Center for Excellence in Primary Care.
“Through that position I really learned how to influence change without authority by
gaining the trust of multidisciplinary teams and helping them connect the dots of all
the changes they were being asked to make with achieving a larger goal. I got to work
side by side with care team members at the safety net clinics in San Francisco to
implement population management. I helped the clinics utilize a population health
registry. That was my first exposure to utilizing data to drive improvement.”
Jennifer earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California,
Berkeley, with a concentration on Health Policy and Management. She went on to
work on project management and quality measurement at the Oakland non-profit
Integrated Healthcare Association, before taking a position with Alameda County
Health. Joining the SHIE team was an opportunity to work again with community
providers and gain exposure to multiple care sectors beyond just health care to truly
create a comprehensive system of care.
Jennifer is proud of the work she has done with the SHIE to help facilitate those
connections better through the data.
“I think the value of the SHIE is really being able to think more globally from a systems
perspective to figure out where the commonality is and how can we work together to
ultimately improve the care that gets delivered in Alameda County.”
This is particularly important to her as a native of Alameda County.
“It's a very full circle moment to be able to take different things I’ve learned
throughout my professional journey and have them culminate in this experience and
also be able to serve the community that I was born and raised in. I've been able to
see Alameda County change in my lifetime, and it's really nice to be able to see an
impact in the community where you live, work and play.”
Jennifer has a bachelor's degree in Integrative Biology and a master's degree in Public
Health, both from UC Berkeley.
New Platform Reminder
Our kickoff was held on Dec. 5, 2024. Since then,
we have launched 13 workstreams.
We had on-site discovery sessions with
Innovaccer in January 2025 along with one
additional week of on-site interviews with
various CBOs. These interviews were done by
Innovaccer’s design and development team.
Below is a brief summary of key takeaways.
What is working?
Easy access to housing data and behavioral health information,
Case manager connection and collaboration
What are areas of opportunity?
More seamless workflow with primary EMRs for users
improved real-time data access
Making navigation more intuitive
Implementation work is being planned in three waves which will conclude in
December 2025 with cutover planning scheduled for January 2026.
Stay tuned for further communication in future newsletters.
Information Sharing Authorization (ISA) Workshop Recap
We held three workshop sessions last year in August,
September, and October. The sessions gave an
opportunity for our CHR provider community to learn how
to navigate patient consent forms, understand the
legalities of information sharing, and improve compliance
and efficiency.
Across our sessions, we had more than 30 providers
attend to participate in the interactive sessions. Here is
what some of them had to say:
“I enjoyed meeting other care team members and learning how we can
collaborate.”
“I liked the opportunity to hear from and share with other providers the
experience of filling out an ISA in practice.”
“This was a great discussion! Glad this was offered in person because that is
much more beneficial!”
CHR Stories from the Field
Check out what our colleague from the Telecare
Corporation has to say about the CHR:
“Several of our teams use the CHR all the time! We
have been able to utilize the CHR to help locate
partners and coordinate their care with hospitals, families, other providers and been
able to assist in discharge planning right away. I have also used CHR to access a
consumer’s benefit information to support folks with lab appointments. We have also
been able to assist folks in reconnecting with their primary care providers through
accessing consumer’s medical home and insurance information. I really cannot say
enough good things about the CHR!”
-Amber, LCSW Clinical Director
What Say You?
We would like to hear from you!
Your stories about the Community Health Record (CHR) for coordinating care and
improving health outcomes are inspiring. Can you share a success or impact story
from your experience on how the CHR has helped you? Click on Impact Stories to
enter your name and provider information.
What would you like to see in the newsletter?
We are looking for input from our provider community on what you would like to see
included in the newsletter. Please put your suggestions here: Ideas.
Tips & Tricks - View & Configure Alerts
The CHR allows you to subscribe to alerts for all consumers in your organization
and/or for all consumers that you are added to the care team of. Alerts are generated
when certain events occur, like jail, in-patient, or emergency department encounters
or facility discharges.
You can view new alerts on your home screen when you log in to the CHR.
Notifications can also be sent to your email address on file.
To view the steps in the Alerts Tip Sheet, click here.
New Organizations and Programs
We'd like to welcome these new programs being onboarded
to the CHR!
New Organizations Currently Onboarding:
City of Berkeley City Manager’s Office
Housing Consortium of the East Bay
New Programs Being Onboarded:
AC Public Health - Health Care Program for Children in
Foster Care (HCPCFC), PHN-SSA Collaborative
Bay Area Community Services – Care Court
Housing Consortium of the East Bay – Homebase, Soul
Sanctuary
La Familia – Working Wellness
Training and Support
Self-Paced Online CHR Training
New Users: Go to our Self-Paced CHR Training Registration form and select NEW
USER TRAINING. Once approved, staff have 30 days to complete the 3-hour training
and get a CHR account. Please allow up to one week from the date of form submission
for approval and enrollment in New User Training.
Existing Users: Review the CHR on your own schedule with our CHR Refresher
Training. Lessons focus on key CHR features and finding the information you need!
Click on our Self-Paced CHR Training Registration form and select REFESHER
TRAINING to be enrolled in the training for 30 days.
Live Online or In-Person Post-Training Support
We are here to provide additional CHR coaching for your team at a time that works
for you. Sessions focus on accessing the CHR to find the information you need,
answering your burning questions, and adding the CHR to your team's workflow. To
request Post-Training Support, please contact our Help Desk
at CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997.
Important Reminders
If you require any resource material such as Tip Sheets or Information Sharing
Authorization forms, kindly submit your request through the Help Desk at
CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or call 510-618-1997. This streamlined process ensures
a prompt response and efficient handling of your request.
Reminder for Supervisors: Notify Help Desk When Off-Boarding Staff
Is your organization experiencing staff changes? As CHR users transition out of the
organization, we request that supervisors notify the Help Desk so our team can
deactivate their CHR accounts. For more information, please contact the Help Desk at
CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997.
Additional Resources
Questions? Contact the Alameda County Health Help Desk at
CareConnectHelp@acgov.org or (510) 618-1997.
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