Established: Planning began in Feb, 2003 and completed in April 2005; chartered Jan 2005 to begin implementation in July 2005.
Best Advice to New HIE: Look long-range and “big-picture”; learn from other communities and outside experts, plan for sustainability and result; engage your community to develop vision and plan because your resources reside within.
CareSpark is designed to address the significant health disparities and high per-capita cost of health care in a 16-county, multi-state area with rural population and many small physician practices through the use of technology, shared investment and return, and shared responsibility for efficient, effective use of health resources. Use of electronic medical records and evidence-based guidelines to provide decision support at the point of care, exchange of health information among multiple providers to assure coordination of care, collection and analysis of de-identified aggregate data to target and improve regional health problems, and patient / physician outreach and education to encourage active engagement in decisions about health care—all are tactics to improve individual patient outcomes and overall health status in the region. Alignment of financial incentives and improved outcomes, financial and technical support to implement technology in the care setting, and support for process and quality improvement through a locally-governed not-for-profit board accountable to community stakeholders have all been considered in the development of a sustainable, grassroots-led community-based approach to health improvement. Over a three-year period, efforts will be focused on medication improvement, diagnostic improvement, preventive medicine and chronic disease management targeting those issues of greatest impact (health and cost) in the region: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, asthma and immunizations.
Partnering Organizations: Facilitated by Kingsport Tomorrow, partners include:
Mountain States Health Alliance
Wellmont Health Systems, Johnston Memorial Hospital,
Laughlin Memorial Hospital
Quillen VA Medical Center<BR> Frontier Health,
Quillen College of Medicine
Holston Medical Group
Highlands Physicians Inc.
Health Alliance PHO
Cardiovascular Associates
Mountain Region Family Medicine
ETSU University Physicians and Associates
State of Franklin HealthCare Associates
Highlands Wellmont Health Network
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee>John Deere Health,
Cariten Health
Eastman Chemical Company
n*tara
Intellithought
United Way of Greater Kingsport
Rotary Club of Kingsport.
Consulting Partners:
CareScience / QuoVadx
Health Alliant
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
Ferguson Law Office
n*tara
Evergrow
For more information contact:
Liesa Jo Jenkins, Project Director
423-246-2017
ljenkins@kingsporttomorrow.org
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