Recognizing the need for trusted resources with relevant experience to help safety-net providers manage increasing demands for quality, cost, and outcome data, as well as navigate a complex and ever changing HIT marketplace, The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), in partnership with three Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) - Health Choice Network of Florida, OCHIN of Oregon, and the Alliance of Chicago, announced the launch of THQLink (connecting Technology, Health, and Quality).
THQLink aims to harness decades of investment in Community Health Center specific expertise, resources, and thought leadership under one organization to strengthen our nation’s Community Health Centers and other safety-net providers by leveraging technology to advance quality in healthcare.
“We didn’t want to recreate the wheel. 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,” said Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of NACHC.
The three founding HCCNs came together with NACHC as the culmination of a joint strategic planning process. 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:
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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 currently serve approximately 12% of all Federally Qualified Health Centers in 27 states. As the electronic health record (EHR) 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 closer together than ever before. In this spirit, and as part of the arrangement, 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.”
For more information about THQLink, please click here.
Source: NACHC News Release
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