2 More Secure Data Exchange Demos Funded
Cincinnati, Detroit Get Beacon Community PilotsThe HITECH Act is funding the Beacon Community program, which will include strong privacy and security measures. The pilot projects, 15 of which were announced in May, are designed to demonstrate how electronic health records and secure health information exchanges can improve health care quality, safety and efficiency, says Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services.
"The program will also allow HHS to look for new ways to share the lessons learned by funded communities, and, working with local and national healthcare foundations, develop support networks for other communities that want to employ similar innovative approaches," according to an HHS statement.
The Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge will receive $13.8 million over three years for a project involving quality improvement and care coordination for patients with pediatric asthma and adult diabetes and for encouraging smoking cessation.
The Southeastern Michigan Health Association will receive $16.2 million over three years to improve the availability of patient information at the point of care so clinicians can catch potential health complications, especially for diabetics. The project will enable clinicians to better track clinical outcomes to improve diabetes care.