April 2020
Issue: 8
MHC Updates
Top Three From the CEO
1. Thank you, Health Care Professionals!
Thank you to all health care workers! Your dedication and selflessness is appreciated. MHC sends our love and support to you. Please stay well.


2. Free MHC CareView Access during COVID- 19 crisis.
In an effort to combat against COVID-19, MHC is making MHC CareView available to any provider not currently participating with the MHC Network. MHC is here to support our health care community in the Midwest and nationally. Read more below under MHC Provides Help Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic.


3. MO HealthNet HIE Onboarding Program is available to encourage participation with MHC. 
Please be advised that MHC has funding available to cover the one-time implementation costs associated with connecting to MHC’s Health Information Exchange (HIE) network. The funding available to qualified MO Medicaid Eligible Hospitals (EHs) and Eligible Providers (EPs), under the Meaningful Use program, will be used to connect your organization to MHC without incurring any costs for:
  • Implementation/Onboarding costs to establish a connection between MHC and the EP/EH EHR. Onboarding to the MHC HIE network requires a data interface to be established between the MHC HIE network and a provider’s EHR system so that a bi-directional exchange of health data can be accomplished and facilitated;
  • MHC’s first year of Annual Subscription Fees for services; and
  • The EHR interface fee assessed by your EHR vendor to establish an interface connection with MHC. 

MHC strongly encourages any Missouri Medicaid provider to contact MHC as soon as possible to get in the queue to onboard to MHC’s HIE network by taking advantage of the funding available. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity to onboard to the MHC HIE network,  please direct all inquiries to Angie Bass at (573)777-4550 or [email protected]   
 

Continue to look for more updates on our social media pages and website!


President & CEO, Angie Bass
MHC in the News
MHC Provides Help Amidst COVID- 19 Pandemic
On behalf of the entire Missouri Health Connection (MHC) team, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to all of the health care professionals that are on the front lines serving and treating patients and putting themselves at risk during the COVID 19 pandemic. We wish you all good health and pray for your wellbeing.

It is clear that HIEs across the US are actively coordinating with their participants, state agencies, and public health officials to help identify the spread of the pandemic, how to prevent equipment shortages (i.e. ventilators), and conduct surveillance activities to determine what patients are more at risk for needing acute care. MHC is no different. MHC’s is expending efforts to support our participants, public health entities, and communities by :

  • Coordinating with the Governor, Dpt. of Social Services and Dpt. of Health & Senior Services to support their respective efforts to address the pandemic.
  • Notifying Participants about certain COVID-19 patients. 
  • Identifying at risk patients for COVID-19 to support public health use case.
  • Making MHC CareView available during the pandemic to any provider not currently participating with the MHC Network for FREE to support our health care workers on the front line.
  • MHC encourages our Participants to reach out to MHC for data requests. MHC can provide data on at risk patients today and we are happy to provide any Participant with that information. 

There are a few things MHC Participants can do to assist in supporting COVID-19 response efforts:
  • Please let MHC know if you are actively testing for COVID-19 and if so what specific facilities are conducting the testing.
  • Ensure that providers consistently enter all data elements into their respective EHRs - specifically diagnoses/problems, demographic data, smoking history and lab information as well as vitals.
  • Implement our enhanced ADT interface requirements which will help identify high risk patients. 
  • Ensure that the ADT interface with MHC includes a (1) Death Indicator and (2) Deceased date.
  • Ensure that you send MHC CCDs for patients even if they are deceased, please do not filter out deceased patients.
  • As soon as possible, send Lab results from your lab feed through an ORU or MDM type transactions. 

MHC is working with the development we have in place to provide meaningful and actionable intelligence to our Participants and public health officials. Each of these items will help to ensure that every MHC Participant and every physician in the Midwest has as much information as possible to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and be able to properly treat affected patients.

Please contact MHC directly if you have questions or would like to know more by emailing [email protected] or calling (573)777-4550.

MHC Announces GO-LIVE with the DOD 
Columbia, MO — February 14, 2020 —  Missouri Health Connection (MHC), the Midwest health information exchange (HIE), proudly announces that its connection to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) went live today. MHC Participants and the DoD are now able to bi-directionally query each other and exchange clinical health information documents. In support of our veteran community, MHC’s connection with the DoD will allow health care providers to have a more complete, comprehensive record of health to better care for veterans in the Midwest.

MO HealthNet receives $9.3 million to help hospitals and providers electronically connect patient information 
The Missouri Department of Social Services, MO HealthNet division, released a press release about the Health Information Exchange Onboarding Program. The Missouri Health Connection (MHC) encourages all Missouri eligible providers to take advantage of this funding to connect to our expanding network. MHC connects nearly all of Missouri with all the major health systems in Missouri participating in the MHC network. Eligible providers, health centers, and hospitals need to be proactive. There are limited spots available to cover the onboarding cost. To express interest and secure a spot in the program, send a letter of intent to MHC as soon as possible.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity to onboard to the MHC HIE Network or have facilities in mind that should be connected to MHC, please contact MHC at  [email protected]  or (573)777-4550 as soon as possible. 

New MHC Board Member
Noelle King-Whitlow
Department Vice President Healthcare Transformation 
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City

 Noelle King-Whitlow was appointed to the MHC Board of Directors in February 2020. She brings 25 years of health care experience to the MHC Board of Directors as an accomplished health care professional. Her experience and leadership will be a great asset for MHC providing clinical and health care administration knowledge. Noelle began her health care journey as a nurse and transitioned into consulting and being a business owner. Currently, Noelle is the Department Vice President of Healthcare Transformation for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. There is no doubt Noelle will be a guiding force for the MHC Board.
Noelle received a Bachelor and Master of Nursing from the University of Kansas School of Nursing in Kansas City, KS. She also received a Master of Science in Health Service Administration from University of Kansas. 
Did You Know?
M HC Patient Numbers
MHC Positive Patient Consent Rate:
94% 

Total MRN in MPI:
23,039,660

Total Unique MPIID:
14,150,781
HIT News
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Stay tuned for more information about how your current services will meet the requirements or what you will need to do to meet the requirements.
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www.healthit.gov
ONC’s Interoperability Rule Drops: The Key Elements...
Information blocking requirements and patient privacy elements in the final rule will be core talking points among health IT leaders in the days and weeks to come

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Frequently Asked Questions about Coronavirus Disease...

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newsroom.clevelandclinic.org
In Times of Crisis, HIEs are Front and Center

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the even greater importance of ensuring the right information is accessible to those who need it. Health information exchange (HIE) organizations play an essential role in aggregating and ...

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www.himss.org
MHC Wants to Hear from You!
MHC values our Participants, future participants, and supporters and would like to hear from you!
Please reach out to us with any type of inquiry.
www.Mi ssouriHealthConnection .org | [email protected]