Connecting Healthcare - Connie's Quarterly Newsletter
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A WORD FROM JENN SEARLS:
Outreach and Engagement
As you know, Connie has reached several major milestones over the last 18 months, and I’m happy to report that we’re just getting started! Now that we have 100% of the state’s hospitals committed to connecting with Connie, and most already contributing data to Connie, we’ve launched our outreach efforts to capture primary care and specialty physician practices, pharmacies, labs, and skilled nursing facilities. In addition to connecting Connecticut’s healthcare community, we are also on a mission to drive engagement and increase utilization among our participants.
To assist with our outreach efforts, we developed a multipronged strategy to engage with as many licensed Connecticut providers as possible. This outreach strategy is centered on educating prospective organizations about what Connie is, creating awareness around the state mandate, explaining how Connie can help them meet the mandate, and outlining what these organizations need to do to remain in compliance. Be on the lookout for us in your inboxes, on social media, joining network meeting opportunities, and attending conferences and other professional gatherings!
To jump-start this initiative, we recently attended the CT Academy of Family Physicians 2022 Scientific Symposium in Prospect on Oct 25th & 26th. This was our first opportunity to meet face-to-face with medical professionals from all over Connecticut in one location. Our mission was to be informative, effective, and fun! As a result of this onsite effort, we have several new organizations that have begun the commitment to connect process and several have registered for our Connie overview webinar. Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for additional onsite dates for 2022.
Though we are also working on several other projects as well, including adding new services and expanding existing capabilities, I wanted to outline our outreach and engagement effort as we are all eagerly anticipating the invaluable information that will be available to us once we get all of Connecticut’s healthcare community connected.
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Connie’s Upcoming Onsite Outreach Events
In line with our outreach strategy described above, we are excited to announce that we will be onsite at the following upcoming events:
Our team is THRILLED to meet our current and prospective participants in person, answer any and all questions and share with you Connie's progress! Click the links above to get registered and make sure you stop by and say hello!
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NEW PARTICIPANTS ARE JOINING CONNIE EVERY DAY
We are excited to announce that as of Nov 2022, we are connected with 3.6+ million patients and hundreds of participating organizations. Of those participating organizations (POs), we would like to highlight some of our newly connected partners that are sharing data through Connie. Be sure to check out our Connected Participating Organizations Dashboard to see our growing list of connected organizations and discover what they're sharing!
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OHS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION & LISTENING SESSIONS
In October and early November, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) sponsored several Behavioral Health sessions dedicated to informing Connecticut’s licensed healthcare providers about the state mandate to connect with Connie by May 3rd, 2023. These sessions focused on defining the mandate, the introduction of Connie, a demonstration of how Connie can help behavioral health providers, and a review of special considerations for sharing patient data in accordance with 42 CFR Part 2, in addition to outlining the technical process to connect with Connie.
This event was for licensed behavioral health providers in Connecticut. Jenn Searls, the Executive Director for Connie and Sumit Sajnani, the Health Information Technology Officer for the Office of Health Strategy and Connie’s Board of Directors Chair, presented to approximately 130 participants and fielded a broad range of questions from the community forum. Those questions/answers are in the process of being summarized and organized into a communication document that will be publicly available on the OHS website.
Following these information sessions, OHS will host several (invitation-only) listening sessions expected to kick off in late November through January. Once concluded, a formal report with recommendations based on both the information and listening sessions will be drafted and posted on the OHS website.
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NOW LIVE! InContext and Clinical Information Application Updates
We are excited to announce that we have launched several new features that will enhance both our Clinical Information and InContext Applications! The four main enhancements benefit the Clinical Data Settings, Social Data Needs Section, eReferral Display, and Table of Contents.
Click HERE to get the details!
Affirmative Consent is Coming…
Connie is preparing to roll out an Affirmative Consent process over the next several months. Affirmative consent enables healthcare providers to help their patients consent to share their substance use disorder (SUD) treatment data through Connie in full compliance with federal and state laws. To support Affirmative Consent, we are beginning to talk with SUD treatment providers about what it means to share sensitive health information through the HIE, how it complies with state and federal patient privacy and security rules, and the steps organizations would take to implement sensitive data exchange through Connie. If you are interested in learning more, contact your Account Manager or email [email protected].
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Have you checked out our easy-to-navigate, one-stop-shop Resource Library, where you can find all our educational and informational resources? Here you will find our latest video tutorials, service support materials, archived and upcoming webinars and podcasts with UConn Health, along with Connie's latest news articles, and archived quarterly newsletter.
NEW Video Tutorials: These videos are step-by-step walkthroughs with a Connie Account Manager to help your organization explore and utilize Connie's services. You can watch these videos on our website or subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified when a new video is available.
Service Support Materials: For a deeper dive into Connie services, visit ‘Service Support Materials’ for ‘Service Overviews’. These overviews allow you to view, download, or share important information on available Connie services, including a general introduction, FAQs, benefits, and user stories.
Connie/UConn Health Podcasts: The Connecticut eHealth Podcast is where we get together with local and national experts, key stakeholders and other individuals to discuss health information in CT and around the country.
Connie/UConn Health Webinars: Informational webinars are made in partnership with the University of Connecticut, featuring expert insights on Health Information Exchange.
Connie in the News: Read all about it! Our news page provides all Connie updates and developments in one convenient location.
Newsletters: An archive of our quarterly newsletters and hotspot for news on upcoming services, events, and features!
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CHECK OUT OUR LATEST PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIAL |
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"I recommend Connie because sharing information across health care organizations is essential for continuity of care for our patients. It is great to be able to go to one place to get information from many different organizations to be able to better coordinate patient care."
Kim Thibodeau, MSN, RN, RN-BC
System Director, Clinical and Business Applications, Bristol Hospital
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PODCASTS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS!
Did you know that Connie has partnered with UConn Health to launch a podcast series?
Together, we have produced 15 episodes over the last year, featuring highly qualified health information experts and focusing on topics that affect Connecticut's healthcare community. You can find our 3 most recent episodes HERE, or just click the image and start listening now.
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Help Us Welcome Our New Staff!
As Connie continues to grow, so does our staff! We want to welcome our newest team member to Connie, Alex Hughes. Alex will be working with Heidi Wilson as a Project Manager. We’re so pleased to have her on the team and look forward to working with her!
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“I am most looking forward to working with such a great team to improve the health outcomes of Connecticut residents. Coming from a public health background, I am excited to dive in and learn new content knowledge. I had such a friendly welcome; Connie seems like a great place to work!”
- Alex Hughes
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Celebrating Connie Anniversaries
Happy workaversary to Tony Cincogrono one of our stellar Account Managers, who just celebrated his work anniversary in October! Tony continues to play an essential role in getting organizations connected and onboarded with Connie! We are so grateful for all you do!
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“I love working for Connie because of the 13 people I work with. I can call any of them at any time for anything and they wouldn’t hesitate to pitch in and help. Our team is awesome!”
- Tony Cincogrono
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We’re Hiring!
Do you know anyone who might want to join the Connie Team?
Connie is recruiting a full-time (remote) Project Manager to guide the development, planning, coordination, administration, and implementation of Connie's technology initiatives. This role is responsible for ensuring tools and services for Connie’s end users are completed within stated time parameters, meet all program milestone requirements, and are implemented to the satisfaction of the customer and leadership.
The Project Manager will work with participating organizations, EHR vendors, internal and external IT resources, and others directly to advance interoperability with the HIE. CLICK HERE To learn more about this opportunity and apply online by November 22nd, 2022.
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Learn with Connie's Account Managers as they walk us through an introduction to Connie, provide an overview of Connecticut's state mandate, and lay out the steps to connect with Connie by May 3, 2023.
Discover how Connie will bring a 360-degree view of patients, allowing providers to have all the information they need in one place and supporting them with the most complete records to make the best possible care decisions.
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Join Connie's Leadership Team as they review the most pertinent updates regarding upcoming and available services, connectivity progress with other organizations, portal demonstrations, end-user resources, and an in-depth Q&A session.
Our goal for this webinar is to help onboarded participants better understand what is available in Connie, how to best leverage our platform, and inspire ideas about how Connie can be incorporated into existing workflows.
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YOUR OPINION MATTERS!
If you're a regular Connie user and would like to provide us with some feedback on our current services, we would love to hear from you! Please take 2 minutes to complete our survey below. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!
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Address: 400 Farmington Avenue
Farmington, CT 06032
Phone: (888) 783-4410
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NOTE: You are receiving this newsletter because you either subscribed to our email list and/or are an active or prospective participant with Connie, Connecticut’s state-designated Health Information Exchange. While you are welcome to unsubscribe at any time, we hope you will remain on our mailing list, where you will receive Connie's latest updates, featured benefits, industry news, policy changes, health IT trends, service rollouts, and so much more.
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