N.Y. network nets $8.7M for IT support of mental health services
Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC), a nonprofit serving to improve healthcare of New York’s Hudson Valley community, has been awarded an $8.7 million grant to support better care coordination for mental health patients through the use of IT.
The grant was awarded by the New York State Department of Health and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, offered through Phase 17 of the HealthCare Efficiency and Affordability Law of New York (HEAL NY) and the Federal State Health Reform Partnership.
THINC's HEAL 17 Mental HealthCare Coordination Project will address care coordination among patients with affective disorders, including depression. Some 8,500 patients in Ulster, Sullivan, Orange, Dutchess and Westchester counties in New York will benefit from the project, which will coordinate care among 120 primary care providers, 36 psychiatrists and 174 psychologists, the Fishkill, N.Y.-based THINC stated.
Six patient-centered medical home primary care practices will participate in the project with THINC. The team-based care patients receive in a medical home is supported by the use of health IT tools such as EHRs, e-prescribing, an electronic patient registry and clinical decision support, THINC said.
The participating practices in the care coordination project, which include three large community health centers--Hudson River HealthCare, The Institute for Family Health and Open Door Family Medical Centers--as well as smaller and solo practices, already use EHR systems. The mental healthcare coordination effort will include clinician involvement in developing new uses of EHRs, improved ways to share information among providers and a better approach to the delivery of care, the organization concluded.
The grant was awarded by the New York State Department of Health and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, offered through Phase 17 of the HealthCare Efficiency and Affordability Law of New York (HEAL NY) and the Federal State Health Reform Partnership.
THINC's HEAL 17 Mental HealthCare Coordination Project will address care coordination among patients with affective disorders, including depression. Some 8,500 patients in Ulster, Sullivan, Orange, Dutchess and Westchester counties in New York will benefit from the project, which will coordinate care among 120 primary care providers, 36 psychiatrists and 174 psychologists, the Fishkill, N.Y.-based THINC stated.
Six patient-centered medical home primary care practices will participate in the project with THINC. The team-based care patients receive in a medical home is supported by the use of health IT tools such as EHRs, e-prescribing, an electronic patient registry and clinical decision support, THINC said.
The participating practices in the care coordination project, which include three large community health centers--Hudson River HealthCare, The Institute for Family Health and Open Door Family Medical Centers--as well as smaller and solo practices, already use EHR systems. The mental healthcare coordination effort will include clinician involvement in developing new uses of EHRs, improved ways to share information among providers and a better approach to the delivery of care, the organization concluded.