A WORD FROM JENN SEARLS:

As I reflect on another eventful fiscal year at Connie, I am amazed at the progress we’ve all made as a team with the support and ongoing collaboration of our valued partners. Connecticut’s Health Information Exchange is succeeding, and it’s been a productive year of increased utilization among connected organizations, a steady increase in connectivity, and continued work to empower patients. As we press forward into a new fiscal year, I’m proud to share the achievements and exciting projects underway to serve the state of Connecticut. 

Expanding Connie's Network, Enhancing Patient Care

This year has been one of incredible growth for Connie, and the data shows that we have hit our stride. As of the end of this fiscal year, Connie serves all of the health systems in the state, more than 4,000 healthcare facilities including those without an EMR, and securely shares data for over 5 million patients. We have seen 253 new organizations connecting with Connie, with 294 healthcare entities in the process of connecting. Our quarterly webinars reflect a growing interest in learning more about and sharing data with Connie, with a total exceeding 348 attendees!  

New Groups, New Committees, Same Dedication

To better understand how we can serve and empower patients, we established the Patient and Family Advisory Committee (PFAC), which provides understanding and insight into how Connie can best communicate with and benefit patients in Connecticut. This group continues to help the Connie team shape tools as well as outreach initiatives and services, including the new patient portal, Patient Connect, which will provide patients with secure electronic access to their health information at no charge.  

This past year has also led Connie to create groups such as the Data Governance Committee and Connie User Community. The Data Governance Committee is comprised of a diverse group of medical backgrounds and will guide and inform our efforts around data quality, as well as offer vital insights into which data is essential to connected organizations, so they can provide the very best care. We are beginning to recruit members for the Connie User Community. This newest group has a similar mission to serve as an open platform for members to share user insights to optimize Connie experiences.   

Connie Tools are Always Evolving

In addition to these initiatives to improve the Connie experience, we’ve introduced an improved encounter notification tool: Population Explorer. Population Explorer is designed to improve patient care coordination and efficiency for providers. We're excited to see the utilization of this tool as more organizations continue to implement the wealth of Connie services to provide the best care for their patients. 

The Best is Yet to Come

As we look ahead, I’m eager to see what opportunities are in store for Connie as we continue to transform Connecticut’s healthcare delivery system. Connie continues to gain momentum through our partnerships and collaborative efforts with healthcare organizations, and I am excited that patients are encouraged and empowered to become active collaborators in their care through PFAC and the Patient Portal. I am especially grateful for the support and dedication of the Connie team and our connected organizations as we continue to enhance the utility of health data statewide. 

NEW PARTICIPANTS ARE JOINING CONNIE EVERY DAY!

We are excited to announce that the Department of Corrections, all CVS MinuteClinics, and 36 Skilled Nursing Facilities have joined our network of participating organizations (POs), with the addition of Hartford Healthcare and Griffin Hospital now sharing images! As of last quarter, we have established connections with hundreds of POs, securely exchanging data for over 5 million patients through Connie. We are proud to highlight some of our recently onboarded partners who are actively sharing data via our Health Information Exchange. Don't forget to explore the Connected Participating Organizations Dashboard to view our continuously growing list of connected organizations and discover the valuable data they contribute! 

Connie has established a connection with Connecticut’s Department of Correction (DOC), facilitating the secure sharing of vital information including ADTs, and health records. The DOC/Connie connection will ensure that relevant health information is consistently shared between the DOC and the broader healthcare ecosystem, helping the process of reintegration to society be more seamless and allowing DOC staff to be aware of hospital and specialist visits.   

Exciting news! Connie Patient Connect is going LIVE! Connie’s patient portal will provide patients secure electronic access to their health information, at no charge, contributed by healthcare providers connected with Connie. Patients can also authorize a family member or guardian to access their account.  

Connie Patient Connect differs from provider-based patient portals in that it does not enable the patient to make appointments nor, currently, communicate with their provider. However, it does enable the patient one-stop access to their health data from across different participating providers no matter what electronic health record system their provider uses. This benefit is particularly important for patients who have chronic health conditions treated across different health systems.  

Connie Patient Connect serves as means to attain the Patient Access goals of the State-wide Health Information Exchange in Connecticut State Statute Sec. 17b-59d: provide patients with secure electronic access to their health information; and allow voluntary participation by patients to access their health information at no cost.  

Be sure to mention to your patients to be on the lookout on our website for a new Patient Portal section, featuring ­­­­­the Connie Patient Connect User Guide and other informational material!  

CHECK OUT OUR LATEST PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIALS

"I find Connie to be user-friendly and easy to navigate. This portal offers a great amount of information on patients which in return helps me to provide the utmost care for our patients." 

Natalie Wagner, Lead Medical Assistant | Orthopedic Specialists 

"Connie has saved our practice so much time in searching for patient's medical records. It helps us to locate records when a patient may forget where they have been and/or what testing they may have had. Connie's app navigation makes it extremely easy to access exactly what you're looking for, i.e., labs, imaging, and/or specialist consult notes our patients have had." 

Sherri Fusco, Administrator | Genesis Medica, LLC

NEW! DATA GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE 

At Connie, we are working to ensure that the data and information you receive from our services is of high quality - meaning it is complete, timely, and accurate. This means that you have access to clinical data when you need it, and you can have confidence that it reflects information you can use to support your model of care and improve patient outcomes.  

As part of this effort to ensure high quality data, Connie has established a Data Governance Committee. This committee is comprised of twenty representatives from a cross-section of organizations that are transmitting data to Connie, are using data and information from Connie to support their model of care, or both. Members include representatives from hospitals, primary care practices, specialty care practices, behavioral health, home care, skilled nursing, and state agencies. Members will play an important role in guiding and informing our efforts around data quality. They will provide a unique understanding of how their organizations are using Connie’s services to improve patient care and which data is critical to supporting their efforts. Their input will also help us prioritize efforts around quality improvement so that resources are allocated to where improvement can add the most value to participating organizations.  

Thank you to the members of the Data Governance Committee for your dedication and commitment to improving the value of health information and its utility for Connecticut! 

CONNIE NEWS & UPDATES

CONNIE IN THE NEWS

Connie is making headlines! Our op-ed, “Protecting Connecticut Patients when Healthcare Technology Inevitably Goes Down,” featuring Jenn Searls and Tom Agresta, was featured in the Hartford Courant.



This timely article illustrated the possibility of using Connie when other technology providers fail. Connie has proven to be invaluable, as not just a backup to patient medical data when it’s needed most, but an asset to providers in everyday use.

Read the article for more on how Connie surpasses other health technologies HERE

NEW! TOOL UPDATE

We’re We’re excited to highlight a powerful tool to enhance your experience with Connie: Population Explorer! This tool is designed to improve patient care coordination, making it more efficient and effective for all healthcare providers.  

Population Explorer offers real-time alerts for patients’ hospital encounters, seamlessly integrated into the Connie Portal. Population Explorer streamlines encounter notifications, ensuring timely and relevant information delivery viewed in the Connie Portal.   

Population Explorer provides a user-friendly interface for clinicians and care teams to access and review patient encounters. This tool allows for intuitive monitoring of patient history and interactions with near real-time encounter updates. Key features include access and review of patients on your panel, filtering capabilities, and intra-portal navigation. 

Have questions? Reach out to our team for more information: info@conniect.org

UPCOMING WEBINARS FOR PROSPECTIVE AND CONNECTED ORGANIZATIONS!

Not Yet Connected? Join Our FREE Webinar on the Power and Purpose of Connecting with Connie!

If you know a healthcare organization that hasn’t yet connected with Connie, share this free upcoming webinar, featuring steps to connect, overview, in-depth exploration of Connie’s core services, and a portal demonstration. This is an opportunity for healthcare organizations to discover how they can effortlessly enhance patient care through interoperable healthcare connectivity!

REGISTER NOW

Already Connected with Connie? Elevate Your Experience! Join Our FREE Webinar and Optimize Your User Experience!

Inviting all Connie-connected organizations to attend our free webinar! Join a Connie Account Manager as they walk us through the latest updates, portal demos, and live Q&A session. Although this webinar is hosted with connected and in-process organizations, everyone is encouraged to attend! 

REGISTER NOW

CELEBRATING CONNIE ANNIVERSARIES

We’re so excited to commemorate the work anniversaries of two incredible team members at Connie! Outreach and Integration Coordinator Kaitlyn Kilcrease and Account Manager Bethany Mifsud are celebrating their first anniversary, and we’ve asked them to share their thoughts and greatest lessons learned here. Thank you for all that you do! 

"I love how Connie is a wonderful team full of passionate individuals who help assist and encourage each other. The most important piece of information I have learnt upon working with this company is that input as always appreciated. We work better as a team when we are open to other's opinions and advice!"

“What I love about working with Connie is how integrity guides our daily work and mission to empower consumers and enhance healthcare across the board. I trust the members of our team, all of whom bring their own expertise. I enjoy learning from them daily and following our mission.” 

Connie extends congratulations to founding Board member Lisa Stump, as she embarks on a new position. The Connie team thanks you for serving on our Board and HITAC as a Connie champion from the beginning, as well as for your service as the Sr. Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer for Yale New Haven Hospital, a Connie participating organization and partner in our work.

We wish you the best of luck! 

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!