New group to share resources
WASHINGTON – Several organizations are joining together to make available services for safety net providers across the country. The intent is to help them manage the increasing demands for quality cost and outcome.
Partnering to form THQLink (connecting Technology, Health, and Quality) are the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and three Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) – Health Choice Network of Florida, OCHIN of Oregon, and the Alliance of Chicago.
THQLink aims to harness decades of investment in community health center expertise, resources, and thought leadership under one organization to strengthen the centers and other safety-net providers by leveraging technology to advance quality in healthcare.
“We didn’t want to recreate the wheel,” said Tom Van Coverden, president and CEO of NACHC. “This is about bringing together the thought leaders in the field with their proven track records and expertise to quickly implement what works so that community health centers can be well positioned for the future.”
The three founding HCCNs came together with NACHC as the culmination of a joint strategic planning process, according to Coverden. These primary partners built THQLink as an infrastructure that will allow the three networks, along with other safety-net participants, to share resources to carry out three aims:
• Achieve greater value for Community Health Centers as they improve quality and cost effectiveness of care delivery by jointly deploying state-of-the-art information technology.
• Promote high quality resources specializing in the safety net to support efficient and effective use of health information technology to improve quality and achieve patient centered medical home recognition.
• Develop and implement a robust data aggregation and analytics platform to measure outcomes, share best practices and improve population health.
Health Choice Network, Alliance of Chicago, and OCHIN serve approximately 12 percent of all Federally Qualified Health Centers in 27 states. As the electronic health market matures, achieving economies of scale and attracting and maintaining skilled workers who know health centers requires Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs), Primary Care Associations (PCAs), and Regional Extension Centers (RECs) to work more closely together than ever before, Coverden noted.
All three organizations have agreed to deploy a consolidated aggregation and analytics system powered by Microsoft Amalga, an enterprise health intelligence platform.
“Health Choice Network is breaking new ground in using Amalga to combine clinical and educational data to improve care processes in South Florida,” said Nate McLemore, general manager, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. “We’re excited to build on that foundation and collaborate with THQLink and community health centers nationwide to implement the Amalga platform and applications in support of population health initiatives across the country.”
