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eHealth Initiative Awards Leadership in Health Care Quality Through IT

"These organizations are models for how the use of health IT and health information exchange can support improvements in the quality, safety and efficiency of health care."

The eHealth Initiative (eHI) presented its first annual Improving Healthcare Quality through Information and Information Technology Awards honoring eight organizations at an October 10 awards dinner. Groups were awarded for demonstrating leadership and excellence in utilizing health information technology or health information exchange to drive improvements in the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare.

"The awardees exemplify the principles and strategies identified in eHI's Blueprint: Building Consensus for Common Action released yesterday," said Janet Marchibroda, chief executive officer, eHealth Initiative. "The Blueprint report findings represent consensus among the multiple stakeholders in healthcare on a shared vision and actions for improving healthcare through information technology. These organizations are models for how the use of health IT and health information exchange can support improvements in the quality, safety and efficiency of health care."

Awards were presented to the following recipients in four key areas.

Engaging Consumers

CareEntrust (formerly Healthe Mid-America), an independent, not-for-profit health information exchange organization based in the Kansas City region received the eHI Blueprint Award for Engaging Consumers. The CareEntrust system actively engages consumers in their healthcare by providing consumers and their designated healthcare providers a secure view of their electronic health record.

Healthwise, an organization that engages consumers over 100 million times per year with its consumer health information through web sites, received the Honorable Mention Award for Engaging Consumers.

Aligning Financial and Other Incentives

Quality Health First(SM), a program of the Indiana Health Information Exchange and the Employers Forum of Indiana, received the eHI Blueprint Award for Aligning Financial and Other Incentives. The program, which utilizes electronic clinical data from a health information exchange to support both quality improvement and performance measurement activities, was developed to address the need for health and chronic disease management.

Mesa County Physicians IPA, an organization that helped found and fund the collaborative Quality Health Network initiative and has incentive programs to promote physician adoption of HIT and HIE, received the Honorable Mention Award for Aligning Financial and Other Incentives.

Transforming Care Delivery at the Point of Care

The American Heart Association's "Get With The Guidelines"(SM) (GWTG) Program, one of the largest national hospital-based programs dedicated to quality-of-care improvement for patients hospitalized with cardiovascular disease, received the eHI Blueprint Award for Transforming Care Delivery. GWTG is designed to help hospitals improve the quality of care they provide to coronary artery disease, heart failure or stroke patients by aligning treatment with the most current scientific guidelines. The program provides hospitals with a robust database and real-time benchmarking capabilities to support the goal of enhancing patient outcomes and saving lives.

Shared Health, a health information exchange organization that provides services to approximately 1.8 million patients in Tennessee, received the Honorable Mention Award for Transforming Care Delivery. Shared Health created a hands-on Clinical Outreach Program designed to help physicians incorporate the health information exchange into their existing workflow.

Improving Population Health

The Indiana Public Health Emergency Surveillance System (PHESS), a program of the Indiana State Department of Health, received the eHI Blueprint Award for Improving Population Health. PHESS is an outstanding example of a "biosurveillance" system that leverages a health information exchange system to detect early disease indicators to identify outbreaks before definitive diagnoses are made.

Joslin Clinic, the clinical arm of Joslin Diabetes Center, received the Honorable Mention Award for Improving Population Health. The clinic adopted an innovative program that integrates care, education and research to care for patients with diabetes.