The Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) led a community-wide effort to win designation as one of 17 Beacon Communities by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The Beacon Community Program was created as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and provides communities with funding to build and strengthen their health information technology (HIT) infrastructure.
Video: from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, http://healthit.hhs.gov.
The aims of Beacon Communities are:
To demonstrate that health IT-enabled quality, cost/efficiency, and population health improvements are possible in diverse communities, within the program period (through March 2013);
To support lasting “innovation networks” through which a wide range of stakeholders can collaborate, design, and implement new technology-enabled ideas that improve health and health care beyond the program period; and
To provide lessons, implementation insights, and best practices for other communities eager to improve health, health care, and cost-efficiency in their communities.
The Rhode Island Beacon Community Program pursues these aims through support of RI’s transition to the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model for delivering health care and improving RI’s ability to understand and act on the quality and efficiency of the health care system by providing foundational capabilities in quality reporting.
Objectives include:
Enhancing the quality of care provided to patients with diabetes, by encouraging adherence to nationally recognized evidenced based guidelines;
Reducing preventable hospital and emergency department use;
Reducing the impact of tobacco use; and
Reducing the impact of undiagnosed and untreated depression.
