Resource Search Results

HRSA Telehealth Resource Center (TRC) Technical Assistance available to health centers!: 12/22 HITEQ/HRSA Webinar Transcription (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A transcription of the December 22nd HITEQ/HRSA Telehealth Webinar. Please join HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and the Health Information Technology, Evaluation, and Quality (HITEQ) Center to learn about free telehealth and other health IT resources available to health centers. We will introduce participants to the regional Telehealth Resource Centers (TRCs) and how to access the resources and technical assistance provided by the TRCs.  Participants will also learn about the HITEQ Center and different health IT resources and services available. For more information on the TRCs, please visit: http://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/. For more information on the HITEQ Center, please visit: http://www.hiteqcenter.org/. More Details...

Virtual Visits Fact Sheet for Consumers: What Should I Know? (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Fact Sheet for consumers outlining what they should know, top reasons why people are turning to telehealth, what’s needed and how it works. The fact sheet also lays out challenges, risks and other considerations for those thinking about integrating telehealth. Two-page fact sheet for consumers outlining what telehealth is, and what they should take into consideration if thinking about integrating telehealth into their practice. The fact sheet also lays out challenges, risks and other considerations for those thinking about integrating telehealth. More Details...

Assessing the Value of Health Information Exchange (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This issue brief provides an overview of the value of health information exchange, including determining ROI, categories of HIE benefits, and sources for additional information. Assessing the value of health information exchange (HIE) is important to health centers to support the case for using HIE and for increasing the use of HIE. HIE value can be financial value (cost savings, increased revenue) and clinical value (improved clinical processes and outcomes such as greater utilization of preventive care and fewer hospital readmissions). The value of HIE may not be the same across health centers, and some benefits may take longer to accrue than others. This document provides information to help health centers evaluate their return on the investment (ROI) in HIE — a measure of the efficiency of an investment. More Details...

HIE Evaluation Checklist: Scoring HIE offerings to assess suitability to your health center. (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This HIE evaluation checklist is a scoring checklist that health centers can use to evaluate HIE offerings on a number of key components ; and was modified for the health center audience with permission from the HIMSS HIE Evaluation Checklist. HITEQ recommends this scoring checklist which health centers can use to evaluate HIE offerings on a number of key components. This has been adapted from an earlier checklist developed by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), with permission. The checklist includes multiple criteria that may be more comprehensive than some providers need, but this scoring tool allows individual criteria to be included or omitted as appropriate during your review. The first tab ("HIE Evaluation Checklist") is a blank document. The second tab ("Checklist Example") shows how one provider might rate a particular HIE offering by including, excluding, and attaching its ratings to each criterion. Download the excel checklist below. More Details...

Health IT and QI Workforce Development: Onboarding for Success: 11/29 HITEQ Highlights Webinar Transcription (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A transcription of the November 29th HITEQ Highlights webinar.  After a brief introduction to HITEQ and this Resource Set, this webinar will highlight two specific tools for onboarding new staff into your health center with a focus on speeding the onboarding of Health IT and QI staff. The webinar will delve into the two onboarding tools - the Calendar and the Sample of a Staff Member’s Dashboard for Required Tasks, showing how they are meant to be used and how you can customize them for your needs. More Details...

What MACRA Means for Health Centers: Payment reform and health center impact (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This HITEQ brief outlines Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) MACRA, what it signals for payment reform, and when it impacts health centers. Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) establishes the Quality Payment Program through the Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Although most health centers are not affected by MACRA, they need to understand its components since MACRA reflects national trends to shift payment from volume- to value-based. This resource identifies several strategies health centers can take to respond to these shifting dynamics, even if MACRA requirements do not directly affect them for now. More Details...

Introduction to Value-Based Payment for Health Centers: What is Value-Based Payment and why are Health Centers Considering Payment Reform? (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This HITEQ brief introduces value-based payment and role of health centers as payment models shift. The brief answers key questions about health centers’ engagement in value-based payment, including health-center specific Alternative Payment Methodology (APM), reasons to engage in payment reform, the shifts in primary care payment going forward, and the transition to value-based payment. Value-based payment is a systematic method of paying for care that rewards the cost-effective improvement of the health and well-being of a population.  Payment reform is changing current volume-based payment system to alternative payment models (APMs) that link payment to outcomes and align financial incentives with providing value. By engaging in value-based payment models, health centers can lay the foundation for financial sustainability, high quality care, and engaged staff. This resource outlines value based payment and payment reform specifically tailored to the health center environment. More Details...

Health Center Value Proposition Template: The Value of Health Centers in Assisting their Community to Meet the Triple Aim (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This customizable document uses health center data to support them in demonstrating their value to potential partners and key stakeholders. The document provides evidence for how health centers align with the Triple Aim. Health centers can fill in and customize the value proposition template to demonstrate the value of their primary care services and care model in providing high quality, cost-effective care to those most in need.  The template is structured around the three tenants of the Triple Aim: 1. Improving population health through economic and job growth; addressing social determinants of health; and providing high quality care through a health home model, quality outcomes and implementation of health information technology. 2. Improving patient experience by providing care that is responsive to the needs and realities of the patient population, including patient portals, non-traditional hours and timely appointments. 3. Reducing the per capita cost of health care by engaging in payment reform efforts and providing high-quality care at a low cost. Download the template to create your value proposition below. More Details...

Introductory Letter for EHR/ Health IT Vendor: For use in Health Center RFP process (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A template for the introductory letter to EHR vendors participating in the health center RFP process. Use the following letter template (available for download below) to clearly communicate the importance of addressing your status as a health center to the EHR vendors that have been chosen to participate on your EHR procurement process. This letter template references the Health Center Profile in the Addendum; that template can be found here. For further guidance, this resource can help to guide your organization through the process of EHR procurement using a comprehensive tool such as the EHR Planning and Procurement Toolkit from the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MEHI). More Details...

Getting Started on the Quality Journey: Case Vignettes (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Launching quality work at first can feel like a daunting task – even more so if you do not have the support of leadership in your organization.  Some individuals have successfully launched quality work by following the mantra: “What can I get done by next Tuesday?”  This mantra helps them sidestep inertia, extensive collaboration, and time consuming benchmarking research. Instead, by identifying small steps they can take to improve quality on their own, within the context of their existing job, they can start on the journey quickly. Furthermore, success in these small steps can help with Leadership Buy-In for the importance of Quality work. The vignettes in the attached document are not intended to be literal examples of such efforts, although they rely heavily on real-life experiences.  Nor are they intended to be instructions for specific projects the reader can pursue at their own health center. Rather, these are intended to be aspirational examples of quality work that can be launched by an individual with relatively little support and produce results “by next Tuesday” (or relatively quickly).  The vignettes are written to encompass both health centers with many resources and those with less, to provide a variety of perspectives.  We hope that they inspire associative thinking for the reader, helping to identify specific work that can be accomplished “by next Tuesday.” More Details...

Health Center's guide to the MEHI EHR Planning and Procurement Toolkit (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: An introduction to creating an EHR RFP using the MEHI EHR Planning and Procurement Toolkit. This resource shows the user how to use a comprehensive tool such as the EHR Planning and Procurement Toolkit from the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MEHI) to guide your organization through the process of EHR procurement. The process documented in the EHR Planning and Procurement Toolkit offers a field-tested and proven methodology for a health center that is procuring an EHR. The Toolkit offers a process that will lead an organization through readiness and preparation, vendor solicitation, evaluation and selection, and vendor relationship management. Embedded within the Toolkit at critical steps along the way are the tools needed to execute an effective procurement process.  More Details...

Health Center EHR RFP Addendum (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This is an addendum template to be added to an EHR Request For Proposal (RFP) to help health center further specify the EHR functionalities needed. You may also consider using the available template introductory letter for your RFP as well. For further guidance, this resource can help to guide your organization through the process of EHR procurement using a comprehensive tool such as the EHR Planning and Procurement Toolkit from the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MEHI). This template is intended to be an addendum to the Request for Proposal (RFP) Template for Health Information Technology. This template can be used to add requirements specifically relating to the specialized requirements and operating environments of health centers. More Details...

Health IT-Enabled Quality Improvement: A Guide to Improvement: 10/4 HITEQ Highlights Webinar Transcription (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A transcription of the October 4th HITEQ Highlights webinar. A transcription of the October 4th HITEQ Highlights webinar.  Improving care delivery is a business and mission imperative for health centers, and the HITEQ Center offers a growing collection of tools and services to support this journey. The foundation for these particular offerings is the "Guide for Improving Care Processes and Outcomes in FQHCs."  This web-based resource provides step-by-step guidance on understanding and improving workflows and information flows that drive performance on key targets such as hypertension control and colorectal cancer screening. Guide centerpieces include worksheets for documenting, analyzing, sharing and improving care processes for such targets. Strategies and tools in the Guide have been used successfully in various quality improvement (QI) initiatives, and a HITEQ Center focus is spreading this value more quickly and widely among health centers. This introductory training session introduces health centers and their partners to the Guide's proven approaches, worksheets and other health IT-enabled QI tool More Details...

Trauma Informed Care Webinar Series (2016). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: Featuring nationally celebrated trauma expert Matt Bennett, this four-part webinar series examines how the Trauma-Informed Care paradigm can play a critical role not only in transforming providers’ approaches to care, but also in informing direct advocacy for real solutions to end homelessness. More Details...

Providing Civil Legal Aid Through Medical-Legal Partnerships: A Critical Enabling Service for Health Centers Serving Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs) (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This case study highlights how a health center serving a high immigrant and limited English proficient patient population, including Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs) integrated civil legal aid into its services through a medical-legal partnership (MLP) approach in order to address the social determinants of health (SDOH). Lessons learned in conducting this case study show that the MLP approach is essential to health care transformation and quality improvement. The approach encourages collaboration between health care providers and legal teams to work together to improve clinical practice and institutional policies to better respond to patients’ needs. More Details...

Orientation Follow-up Survey (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This follow up survey is given to the employee following the first 2-4 months of employment. This follow up survey is given to the employee following the first 2-4 months of employment. This information is used to inform the supervisor how helpful the orientation was and what, if any, information was missing. It can help improve the new employee orientation for future employees. More Details...

New Employee Orientation Evaluation Form (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This is an evaluation form to give to a new employee immediately following the orientation program. This is an evaluation form to give to a new employee immediately following the orientation program. The feedback generated from its completion will help the supervisor learn what can be done to make the orientation more effective in the future for future employees as well as on what topics the new employee still may need clarification. More Details...

Benefits and Tools for Onboarding and Orientation of New Staff Members: Guidance and Methods for Health Centers (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This document outlines the ways in which effective onboarding and orientation methods will result in shorter learning curves, improved job satisfaction, and improved retention.  This document outlines the ways in which effective onboarding and orientation methods will result in shorter learning curves, improved job satisfaction, and improved retention. It then provides explicit direction for how to organize an effective process, complete with checklists for supervisors to use to plan the process, and surveys for the employee to fill out immediately following the orientation and then again 2-4 months afterwards. More Details...

Ask & Code: Documenting Homelessness Throughout The Health Care System (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Emerging health care financing models require much more sophisticated actuarial calculations than previous payment arrangements, often taking into account risk factors such as homelessness. Homelessness also has direct implications for clinical treatment decisions and integrated care models and should be noted in individual patient records. This policy brief provides a rationale for using the ICD-10-CM code for homelessness, outlines the challenges to maximizing this code, and offers strategies to consider to ensure health care providers ask about homelessness and record patients’ housing status. More Details...

Encrypting Data at Rest on Servers: Implications for Health Centers (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: It is common practice today to encrypt data at rest, that is, data stored on servers. This is especially applicable to health centers who are less frequently actively transporting data across disparate networks. Like many smaller healthcare organizations, Health Centers are particularly vulnerable to potential attack and infiltration by data hackers for several reasons: they tend to have fewer technical support staff, resource limitations make it harder to assess, implement, and maintain safe data practices, and organizational inertia limits preventive action when no threat is perceived.  It is common practice today to encrypt data at rest, that is, data stored on servers. Like many smaller healthcare organizations, Federally Qualified Health Centers FQHC are particularly vulnerable to potential attack and infiltration by data hackers for several reasons: they tend to have fewer technical support staff, resource limitations make it harder to assess, implement, and maintain safe data practices, and organizational inertia limits preventive action when no threat is perceived. To build off an old adage, no one ever got fired for encrypting their data. But what protection does that really provide? Is just encrypting data enough? First, let’s distinguish between three methods for encrypting data at rest. Full-disk encryption. Most modern operating systems like Linux or Windows Server provide the capability to encrypt their disks in their entirety. This is accomplished with symmetric encryption whereby there is a key or passphrase that a computer operator has to enter when the disks are encrypted and when the system boots to allow access to the data. Typically, the password must be manually entered on the physical server console, though some virtualized and cloud-based environments offer remote passphrase entry and varying degrees of passphrase management and automation. With full-disk encryption, software installed on the server does not need to know or do anything special to operate normally: the operating system provides transparent access to the encrypted data as necessary with very little performance loss. But note that the initial encryption needs to be done on a new disk or set of disks as an existing disk will be wiped clean in the process. So it’s easiest to do this during an initial deployment or migration to a new server. File system encryption. Physical disks are typically divided into one or more file systems by the operating system.  As an alternative to full-disk encryption, file system encryption allows administrators to encrypt only selected file systems or even just selected folders within file systems. This makes it possible to configure a server than can boot without a passphrase; and then require a passphase only after the system is up and running and needs to access its encrypted file systems.  Similar to full-disk encryption, the encryption is transparently provided to applications by the operating system.  Unlike full-disk encryption, developers and administrators need to be careful not to store sensitive files on non-encrypted file systems. Database encryption.  Another way to encrypt data at rest is at the database level: The database software Oracle, SQL Server can provide application-level encryption. Like operating system level encryption, a key or passphrase is entered by an operator when the database starts up, after which all database operations access the encrypted data transparently hence the name: Both Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server call the feature “Transparent Data Encryption”. For servers that may store sensitive data in files outside the database, this provides less protection than encrypting the entire file system, but likely protects the most sensitive data on the system. What kind of protection does encrypting data at rest really provide? Here are a few salient points: Benefits of Encrypting Data at Rest First and foremost, encrypting data at rest protects the organization from the physical theft of the file system storage devices which is why end-user mobile devices from laptops to cell phones should always be encrypted. While this might sound unlikely, the physical disk devices are only as secure as the data center where they are located. While data center access control policy is usually quite strict, in practice it can be quite lax. Door entry can employ weak precautions like old push-button unlock devices, and the proliferation of easily-swappable modular disks for quick maintenance makes removing a disk quite easy. Encrypting data at rest can protect the organization from unauthorized access to data when computer hardware is sent for repair or discarded. Encrypting data at rest can help to satisfy information security or regulatory requirements such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard PCI DSS or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA. In some deployments, the actual file system where data resides is somewhat disconnected from the server upon which applications are loaded either through the use of a storage area network SAN or cloud-based storage. This introduces the possibility that an intruder could break in to the storage subsystem but not the rest of the system. Encrypting the storage subsystem can protect against such attacks. Limitations of Encrypting Data at Rest Encryption of data at rest provides little protection against intrusions in which a hacker gains remote privileged access to a running server in which the passphrase has already been entered. Even more so, if the applications that access the encrypted files or databases web applications, query systems are not themselves secured, a hacker who penetrates one of these applications gains access to the data, whether it is encrypted or not. For database encryption, note that some database management systems only support data encryption in more advanced read more expensive versions of the software. When full-disk encryption is enabled on a physical non-virtualized server, remember that an operator – a human being – will need to type the passphrase into a console whenever the system starts up. For database-level encryption, the passphrase will need to be entered when the database starts up. While this intervention increases the level of protection, it is at the expense of convenience, as systems cannot reboot automatically without a passphrase or even without someone actually being in the server room which can be especially inconvenient if the system manager is not collocated with the hardware. File system encryption can mitigate some of these startup issues. And, of course, if that passphrase is ever lost your data will be encrypted forever. Special Considerations for Virtualized and Cloud-based Environments As mentioned, some virtualized and cloud-based environments offer remote passphrase entry and varying degrees of passphrase management and automation for full-disk encryption – but be aware that there is often a tradeoff between convenience and security with automated solutions. For example, if a cloud provider keeps your passphrase and automatically provides it to the operating system at boot time, the level of security offered by the full-disk encryption solution is largely dependent on how securely the cloud provider manages the passphrase. While encrypting data at rest can be a useful component in a data security toolbox, it must be implemented with a full understanding of the protection it does and does not provide. Organizations should consult with their vendors, data security staff, system staff, and application staff to determine an appropriate set of actions to secure institutional data. More Details...