Guide 2 Better Care with WGRZ-TV

Dan Stapleton, Niagara County Public Health Director

When working in public health, we understand that each community has their own unique health care challenges and priorities.

Through our collaboration with HEALTHeLINK, the Niagara County Department of Health and other local health departments can promptly receive comprehensive and customizable data. This information gives us a snapshot of the current health of the communities that we serve.

Having this data available enables us to have a more detailed understanding of health trends and important health indicators such as pre-diabetes, asthma, and sexually transmitted infections within specific zip codes and demographics.

By having the most current medical information available, our staff can identify disparities and customize interventions accordingly. This enables us to efficiently and effectively serve the health needs of our local residents. It’s crucial to ensure that we are deploying the right resources to the right communities to help improve overall health outcomes.

Kelley Clem, RN, MS, Vice President of Clinical Education and Patient Advocacy, Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo

Advance care planning gives you and your family the opportunity to plan for future medical care, should you become unable to make your own decisions. This can take time and should be made before a health care crisis occurs.

Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo collaborates with HEALTHeLINK to obtain clinical information on our patients.

Sometimes this information alone is not enough. Medical teams must also have access to advance directives to honor a patient’s wishes, especially at end-of-life. Too often these documents are not easily accessible, placing undo stress on your loved ones.

Meaningful conversations with loved ones and putting a plan into place are only part of the process. HEALTHeLINK is working towards making advance directives electronically available to your health care team, to help ensure your decisions are honored when you can no longer speak for yourself.

Elizabeth Woike-Ganga, LCSW-R, President & CEO, BestSelf Behavioral Health

As the largest community-based behavioral health provider in Western New York, BestSelf Behavioral Health serves more than 40,000 children, families and adults each year – helping our clients to be their best selves through accessible, holistic, comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and recovery services.

HEALTHeLINK is a key partner in delivering this high-quality care. They help us collaborate with general practitioners, hospitals and other healthcare partners so we have a complete medical picture for our clients.

Having secure access to recent tests and medications or being alerted when a client is seen at the hospital can help us update the course of treatment if needed.

HEALTHeLINK data helps us personalize care, follow trends, and direct quality improvement efforts to ensure the best mental wellness services.

It is collaborations like the one between HEALTHeLINK and BestSelf that enhance and support the health of our entire community.

Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., Ph.D., President & CEO, Erie County Medical Center Corporation

As the only Level 1 Adult Trauma Center in our region, many of the patients we treat come through our Emergency Department.

Having access to patients’ current medical history is imperative in providing the most complete diagnosis, especially in the ER when seconds count.

That is why ECMC is such a strong partner and supporter of HEALTHeLINK.

Through HEALTHeLINK, our physicians and medical staff can securely and quickly access crucial clinical details about a patient, including current medications, recent test results, and more.

HEALTHeLINK makes it easier for our staff to obtain this information to provide high quality personalized care to our patients.

In turn, when a patient has been seen at ECMC, that information is also shared back to their primary care physicians and specialists for more coordinated health care.

This level of collaboration in an emergency setting provides care and saves lives.

Karen Craik, Senior Manager, Regional Health Improvement, HEALTHeLINK

Every day, HEALTHeLINK demonstrates the value of having the most current clinical information available at the point of care.

As we move into regional health improvement and build community relationships, we have developed a community health dashboard to provide insights into the health status of our region.

Known as HEALTHeWNY, this valuable tool provides necessary information to allow everyone, not just providers, the ability to identify and understand prevalent chronic health issues and preventative care. It can reveal patterns and trends of diseases and provide timely data to inform policy and evidence-based intervention. Having this information also highlights health disparities among different populations in addition to advancing community-based research.

HEALTHeWNY will help to track progress towards improving community health outcomes into the future. This new tool is just another way HEALTHeLINK is collaborating to build a healthier community for all of us.

Frank Cerny, Executive Director, Rural Outreach Center

At The Rural Outreach Center, we empower self-sufficiency among people living in rural poverty. This includes addressing social determinants of health and assisting with access to rural health care, which can be limited in both availability and geography.

As a result, rural communities often experience higher rates of chronic disease such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease as compared with metropolitan areas.

Therefore, it is critical to have one’s current health information to better utilize limited resources and to optimize care coordination.

HEALTHeLINK and its partners provide those data and helps organizations like The Rural Outreach Center identify areas that need interventions and the interventions that will have the greatest impact.

Health outreach in rural areas needs to be targeted to optimize the use of limited resources. HEALTHeLINK is helping to improve access to and enhance the quality of care needed for our rural populations.

Don Boyd, President & CEO, Kaleida Health

To have a viable community, we need a robust health care system.

HEALTHeLINK is a tremendous asset for patients navigating that system as it enables your medical information to travel with you and puts it right at your doctor’s fingertips.

As the region’s largest health care provider, here at Kaleida Health we treat patients from across Western New York from routine labs to cardiology, medical rehab, skilled nursing, maternity and emergency visits.

With HEALTHeLINK providing a comprehensive picture of your health from everywhere you receive care, our care givers utilize this information to better treat their patients. Likewise, clinical results from patient visits at Kaleida facilities are available to community providers.

By contributing to better, more efficient care, HEALTHeLINK is valued by our entire health care community.

Kelly Wofford, Director of Erie County Dept. of Health Office of Health Equity

When it comes to your health, your medical history is a small part of the overall picture. Not having access to transportation to a doctor’s visit, lacking access to healthy foods, unstable or unhealthy housing, and not being able to afford needed prescription medications are just a few examples of critical factors that need to be addressed when it comes to preventive care and managing chronic conditions.

We know how to significantly improve health outcomes for our entire population. It happens when the community focuses on understanding social determinants of health and how they directly impact one’s quality of life.

HEALTHeLINK is working with providers, public health and community resources to develop strategies to improve patient care, while at the same time confronting health equity and addressing social determinants of health.

Layering social determinants of health data with clinical data is necessary as we all work towards health equity in our community.

Dr. Michael Edbauer, President, Highmark BCBS of Western New York

As we move toward value-based care, helping providers have a full picture of their patients’ health is crucial.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York was the first health plan to share claims data with HEALTHeLINK, enabling better care of our members, and for our entire community.

Through HEALTHeLINK, we securely share claims data across our members’ team of medical professionals, ensuring that they are receiving the right care at the right time.

What does this exactly mean? Well, here at Highmark, it allows us to enable better care for our members.

Has a member had their annual mammogram? Did they miss any blood work?

Having this information improves health outcomes, addresses health equity challenges that exist in our community, and reduces overall costs.

It’s this type of proactive and collaborative care that will have the greatest impact on the health and well-being of our region.

Dr. Michael Galang, Senior VP and Chief Information Officer, Catholic Health

Having reliable and up-to-date medical information is crucial for providing the highest quality care.

Thanks to Catholic Health’s ongoing collaboration with HEALTHeLINK, we can deliver timely data from our facilities to your treating physicians directly through their electronic health records.

Whether it’s alerting your physician that you were admitted to a Catholic Health hospital, sharing outpatient clinical notes, or electronically delivering cardiology reports or radiology images to your primary care provider, having this information at the point of care helps your providers take better care of you.

HEALTHeLINK can also deliver medical information from across the region to Catholic Health providers, ensuring that the team involved in your care has a more complete picture of your medical history.

This coordinated care improves access to vital information and, ultimately, the health of our entire community.

Dr. Lorna Fitzpatrick, Senior Medical Director, Univera Healthcare

As a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric oncologist, I know the importance of having all my patient’s medical information at my fingertips. Through HEALTHeLINK, I’m able to see my patients’ lab work, imaging, current medications, and physician notes.…. not only from my records, but also from any other physicians they may see. That gives me the whole picture, in real time, which can guide treatment and improve outcomes!

As Senior Medical Director for Univera Healthcare, I also know that our members are best served when they consent to HEALTHeLINK, because their doctors will have the same benefit I have with my patients. Whether being seen by a specialist or in an emergency department, HEALTHeLINK securely links all your medical records together for your physicians.

At your next medical visit, ask about having your information available to all your providers through HEALTHeLINK.

Dr. Kevin Watkins, Public Health Director, Cattaraugus County Health Dept.

Having access to current health data provides public health practitioners with critical data about specific population health needs. It also helps focus our attention on providing effective interventions and education at the right time, and in communities where it’s needed most.

In a rural setting, this also means understanding the overall health of our population, especially if residents receive treatment outside of our county.

Through our collaboration with HEALTHeLINK, we can obtain data for various diseases and demographics to help guide our programs.

For example, Cattaraugus County Health Department worked with HEALTHeLINK to determine the current prevalence of diabetes in our community. With the data they provided, we reappropriated resources to reach communities that were not initially planned.

Having this timely data to take needed action ultimately results in better health for our entire region.