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 will be described. Findings reveal a deeply "sociotechnical" process (involving interwoven social and technology-based elements). The detailed sociotechnical process revealed will be 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 will be discussed.

Join Webex this Wednesday, November 16 at 1:00pm ET for a Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool webinar. This webinar will discuss the importance and unique considerations for cyberthreats in pediatric health care settings, followed by a SRA Tool walkthrough. The webinar will be recorded and made available after the event. Questions can be directed to can be directed to COCIT@aap.org.

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?

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.

Got questions about information sharing under ONC’s information blocking regulations? Join ONC’s experts for virtual office hours on September 22, October 6, and October 27 from 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET to ask about the information blocking regulations.

Got questions about information sharing under ONC’s information blocking regulations? Join ONC’s experts for virtual office hours on September 22, October 6, and October 27 from 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET to ask about the information blocking regulations.

Designed to engage providers seeking knowledge and skills to implement the delivery of PrEP via telehealth (known as "telePrEP") in their practices, the session showcased models of practice and the role of clinicians and navigators within a PrEP care team. Speaker presentations were followed by a facilitated question and answer session.

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 is launching a free learning collaborative -- Health Center Remote Patient Monitoring and Digital Health.  This learning collaborative will provide participating health centers a series of four structured virtual learning sessions. 

During the series participants will engage with subject matter experts and their colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Topics will include: 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 will gain information on key considerations for each of these components of implementation of RPM.

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.

 In situations of medical complexity, who has access to information about an older adult's health information – including mental health and substance use history and treatment – can be a complicated issue. In this virtual training, a complex older adult health situation was presented. The legal issues related to the privacy of protected health information were reviewed by Jacqueline Seitz, JD, and Christine Khaikin, JD from the SAMHSA-funded Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information (CoE-PHI). Dr. Rebecca Allen discussed ethical issues inherent in the case, highlighting common issues in meeting the needs of older adults while assuring that the right people have the right information. A broader discussion of these issues were lead by  the E4 Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in aging.

Objectives:

Describe when and how the federal privacy laws apply to the Protected Health Information (PHI) of Older Adults
Identify ethical considerations related to PHI, autonomy, and paternalism
Recognize how to access resources and technical assistance through the E4 Center and the CoE-PHI

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 were showcased.

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 is the fourth of 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.