Quality Healthcare Alliance to build state-of-the-art Hawaii Integrated Health Information Network Articles / Other News Posted by garyallen on Oct 29, 2004 - 10:42 AM A new non-profit venture seizes the opportunity to use Hawaii’s unique island community to prove that integrating electronic health networks, financial incentives and health improvement programs enhance the quality of care and patient health. Honolulu, HI—The Quality Healthcare Alliance (QHA) has announced that it will begin working on an electronic health information network to transform health care in Hawai’i.. By improving connectivity, QHA’s goal is to provide access to timely, reliable health information which will increase efficiencies and lower costs. “The QHA believes better connections will improve the quality of patient care and help create a patient-centered care model where quality and wellness, not illness is the focus,” said Dr. Lance Kurata, President of the QHA, and a practicing internal medicine physician and member of the Hawaii Independent Physicians Association. The QHA’s project got the attention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) who awarded QHA a $1,500,000 grant to partially fund the first phase of the project. The HHS- AHRQ multi-year $139 million grant program builds on President Bush's initiative to use health improvement technology to improve the nation's health care system. In addition, the QHA has additional grant proposals from other federal and state agencies under consideration. Senator Daniel Inouye, who supported the application for the federal grant said, “This is an exciting initiative that the Quality Healthcare Alliance is undertaking. It will use information technology to improve health care delivery in Hawaii, providing physicians with computer access to lab results, medical records, and prescription information. QHA’s project has the potential to serve as a national model.” “The unique nature of Hawaii’s health care system makes this the ideal place to pilot such a state-of-the-art project,” said Dr. Dan Heslinga, QHA grant Principal Investigator. Dr. Heslinga cited the fact that it has been difficult for community-based health networks to gather clinical outcomes because of geographic disbursement. According to Dr. Heslinga, the Federal Government and others are interested in the QHA project because as an island community, Hawaii is a controlled environment with a rural population that can be geographically isolated. “In Hawaii, QHA has the ability to capture at least half of the physician population which provides a credible baseline to measure outcomes on a community basis,” added Dr. Kurata. “A success story in Hawaii will prove the theory that providing physicians with access to information improves the quality of care to the patient.” The QHA Initiative: Phase One — Building the Electronic Infrastructure The QHA expects to achieve these goals over several years by integrating the technology components with physician and patient incentives. Implementation will occur in phases. During the first phase of the project, QHA will build the electronic infrastructure to collect and measure clinical outcomes. It is anticipated that Phase One of the network will go live in 2005, with clinical outcomes measurement beginning in 2007. Phase One will include lab reporting results and electronic prescription (eRx) applications for physicians and the introduction of electronic health records. The eRx application will detail prescriptions from all attending physicians. The application will support accurate, legible prescriptions and alerts physicians and pharmacists to correct dosage and drug interactions. “We believe the eRx tool will improve the quality of patient care by helping us reduce potential side effects and complications. And we will be able to monitor patient treatment compliance,” said Dr. Kurata. The lab results reporting application will provide essential data for measuring improvements in clinical outcomes. To start, the QHA will report evidence-based clinical measures for diabetic and cardiac disease to physicians. The application will generate automated reminders that lab tests are due and keep all test results in a centralized health record. Lab results will also be available to patients. Dr. Kurata praised the efforts of the QHA saying “This will go a long way toward streamlining processes and providing clinicians with timely information. Once we can get lab results in the hands of the patients, we can focus physicians and patients on the same goals, one of the first steps in creating informed consumers. The last component of Phase One will be the introduction of electronic health records (EHR). A low-cost, web-based alternative to keeping patient records, QHA will design EHR to facilitate the exchange of clinical information from one health care provider to another. The QHA Initiative: Fulfilling the Vision Beyond Phase One Once Phase One becomes operational, the QHA will implement incentives for physicians and patients rewarding improvements in patient clinical outcomes. “Both will be given the same measures for achieving better patient health, but with different vehicles for getting there,” said Dr. Kurata. Physicians will participate in a pay-for-performance system that utilizes clinical measures as the basis for paying rewards to physicians for quality health outcomes, closely following the Bridges To Excellence (BTE) model. BTE was created more than two years ago by a group of large companies, such as General Electric, United Parcel Service, Procter and Gamble, Verizon, and Ford Motor Company. The Hawaiian version of BTE will include direct reporting from a clinical data repository. Physicians will not have to provide reports on their practice results. The QHA is also working to ensure that data being collected by physician participants are aligned with the evidence-based clinical performance measures developed by the AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (Consortium). The Consortium’s measures are nationally recognized and being used in many other demonstration projects. Integrating the AMA/Consortium measures into QHA’s initiative will ensure that Hawaii is at the forefront of the nation’s quality improvement and information technology movements. Cyril M. Hetsko, M.D., AMA Board of Trustees says, “Use of performance measures developed by the AMA-Convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement will enable Hawaii to facilitate local quality improvement as well as participate in national quality initiatives, using the same data." QHA also plans to deploy a health status improvement initiative for patient-employees who can take part at or through worksite-sponsored programs. Financial and other incentives will be aligned with the same quality health outcomes as the physicians. Before embarking on this effort, QHA studied the obstacles of other early adopters to enhance the probability for success. “We believe the QHA effort is different because there is a strong desire from everyone in this community to see this work, “said Pauline Lo Bailey, President of the Hawaii Business Health Council and a member of the QHA leadership team. “We have built a collective will for this effort from the business community, physicians, pharmacies, health plans, politicians and local governmental agencies.” Bailey also said, “Early on, we collaborated on a shared vision. Now, we have the financial commitment, organizational infrastructure and momentum to realize that vision.” To become self-sufficient, the QHA has developed a sustainable funding model that will consist of subscriber fees for non-health organizations, physicians and allied health professionals, health plans, hospitals and long-term care facilities and patients. Dr. Calvin Wong, past chair of the Hawaii Medical Association said, “After many years, physicians and business are finally working together towards this common goal.” “Under Dr. Kurata’s and Dr. Heslinga’s leadership, with the support of the employers who are the primary payers of healthcare in our State, and with the patient’s health at the heart of our model, I pledge my own personal commitment to the success of QHA and urge the broader Hawaii ‘ohana and national community to support our efforts.” About the Quality Healthcare Alliance The Quality Healthcare Alliance (QHA) is a non-profit consortium of business leaders, health care providers, legislators and local government agencies whose vision is to transform health care to a patient-centered care model that will drive quality care. Established in Hawaii in 2003, QHA is one of the only consortiums in the country to include representatives from both the business and health care market segments. QHA members include the Hawaii Business Health Council, a non-profit coalition of 44 employers; the Hawaii Independent Physicians Association; the American Medical Association; the Hawaii Departments of Health, Health and Human Services, and Commerce and Consumer Affairs; HMSA and Kaiser. Newly elected officers are: · Dr. Lance Kurata, President, practicing internal medicine physician and member of the Hawaii Independent Physicians Association · Pauline Lo Bailey, Secretary/Treasurer, President of the Hawaii Business Health Council · William Chung, Vice President, past-President of the Hawaii Business Health Council About the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, is the Federal Government’s focal point for research to enhance the quality, appropriateness and effectiveness of health care services and access to those services. AHRQ accomplishes these goals through the establishment of a broad base of scientific research on the organization, financing and delivery of health care services and through the promotion of improvements in clinical practice. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on October 13th $139 million in grants and contracts to promote the use of health information technology (HIT). Awarded through HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), this multi-year program builds on President Bush's initiative to use HIT to improve the nation's health care system. Gary Allen Executive Director Hawaii Business Health Council October 19, 2004 808-372-9576 garyallen@hbhc.biz This article is from OpenHRE.org   http://openhre.org/ The URL for this story is:   http://openhre.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=19