Cincinnati, Detroit Selected as Final Beacon Program Health IT Pilot Communities
HealthBridge and SEMHA join 15 other projects that use IT to address community-specific health problems.
Cincinnati and Detroit are the two final pilot communities selected under the new Beacon Community Program that uses health information technology to help tackle leading health problems in communities across the country. In making the announcement Sept. 2, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) also said it will look for new ways to share the lessons learned by funded communities and to develop support networks for other communities that want to employ similar innovative approaches.
The two awardees announced Sept. 2, Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge, Inc. in Cincinnati and Southeastern Michigan Health Association in Detroit, join 15 other projects selected in May for the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program. The following communities previously received Beacon program funding: Tulsa, Okla.; Stoneville, Miss.; Brewer, Maine; Danville, Pa.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Indianapolis, Ind.; Spokane, Wash. New Orleans, La.; Rochester, Minn.; Providence, R.I.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Concord, N.C.; San Diego, Calif.; Hilo, Hawaii, and Buffalo, N.Y. Beacon projects are expected to initially create dozens of new jobs in each of the communities paying an average of $70,000 per year for a total of over 1,100 jobs up-front, while accelerating development of a nationwide health IT infrastructure that will eventually employ tens of thousands of Americans, according to HHS.
"The Beacon program uses health information technology tools to link health providers and other community-wide resources in new and innovative ways," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. "Under the Beacon program, communities first identify leading health problems that are unique to their community, develop innovative, health IT-related strategies, and work together through community collaborations to implement their strategies and track their performance."
There has been significant interest in the Beacon Community program, with over 100 applications for the final two program slots, HHS reported. David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for Health Information Technology, said the applications demonstrated widespread readiness in communities across America to use health IT to address specific challenges in health and health care.
"Beacon communities are designed to point the way toward maximizing community resources to address specific health goals at the local level, including quality of care, the cost of care, and the health of the whole population," Dr. Blumenthal said. "We have seen first-hand through the Beacon application process that a great many communities have promising ideas and are starting to use health IT in innovative ways. We look forward to engaging and helping these communities through a broader nationwide effort."
In the near term, HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT will work with other federal partners and the private sector to identify and share promising health IT health care solutions among communities across America.
"Although we could only select two additional Beacon communities, we are incredibly impressed by the creativity and focus exhibited by communities over the course of this competition," said Dr. Blumenthal. "Local leadership is an essential ingredient to improving health care. The Beacon Community application process provides strong evidence that communities throughout the country are mobilizing for positive change, using health IT as a critical foundation for improving health care."
The Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge will receive $13.8 million over three years under the Beacon program. HealthBridge will serve a 16-county area spanning three states surrounding greater Cincinnati. HealthBridge and its partners will use its health information exchange program to develop new quality improvement and care coordination initiatives focusing on patients with pediatric asthma and adult diabetes, and encouraging smoking cessation. For example, not only will physicians and other providers receive more timely and accurate information about when their patients experience a medical complication or are hospitalized, they will have new support from care managers to use this information effectively to intervene early and assist patients in managing their health and avoiding further complications. This program will provide better clinical information and IT decision support tools to physicians, health systems, federally qualified health centers and critical access hospitals. The health IT community collaboration will also provide patients and their families with timely access to data, knowledge, and tools to make informed decisions and manage their own health and health care.
The Southeastern Michigan Health Association (SEMHA) will receive $16.2 million over three years under the Beacon program. SEMHA and its partners in the greater Detroit area will use health IT tools and strategies to prevent and better manage diabetes, which today affects a large percentage of residents of the city of Detroit. This community collaboration will leverage existing and new technologies across health care settings to improve the availability of patient information at the point of care, regardless of where the patient is in the health system. The community will also provide practical support to physician practices to help clinicians, nurses, and others make the best use of electronic health data to catch potential health complications before they arise. The city's clinical community will be able to track clinical outcomes with the overarching goal of making long-term, sustainable improvements in the quality and efficiency of diabetes care in Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Dearborn and Dearborn Heights.
Total funding for the Beacon program initiatives is $250 million plus an additional $15 million for technical assistance and evaluation. Click here for more information about Beacon Communities.