The last thing you want when you’re feeling isolated and anxious about your health is to feel stuck in a never-ending loop of baffling questions and non-specific answers.
The partners who made this happen:
If you’re dealing with mental health or substance abuse issues, or developmental disabilities, where do you start looking for information about a service or program? How do you find information if you don’t know what you’re looking for is called? Service providers often feel equally frustrated at the lack of centralized, easily accessible information about behavioral health services in Rhode Island.
And there is another area of frustration. We all know that knowledge is empowering; the better we understand our health issues, the better we can manage our care and the care of our loved ones. Even the most web savvy amongst us may feel overwhelmed by the sheer size and complexity of Internet searches.
Rhode Islanders needed a way to easily and effectively navigate the behavioral care system and better manage their health. How could we help them?
Families here are desperate for information. This site will put them right in the driver’s seat and hand them the controls—all for free
The RI Network of Care for Behavioral Health puts an incredible resource at the fingertips of service providers. The site creates a secure place where consumers can connect, providers can share challenges and ideas, and agencies can use private message boards to create their own web sites and much more. Consumers and service providers find the website welcoming, nimble to get around and fun to explore.
The health care community rallies to make the first
Rhode Island Network of Care a reality
The Rhode Island Quality Institute had been awarded a $100,000 grant from the RI Health and Education Building Corporation to engage consumers in the design and use of information technologies that would help them navigate the health care system and better manage their health. We had already directed $50K of the grant money and were exploring the best use for the remaining funds when Congressman Kennedy called about Trilogy Integrated Resources, which had created a concept, known as the Network of Care that used the Internet as a “virtual community” to coordinate the various components of health and social services at the local level. This was an exciting discovery; if the Network of Care concept, which had been so successful elsewhere, worked for Rhode Island, it would jumpstart our efforts, and allow us to take advantage of what other existing sites had already learned.
Thanks to Bruce Bronzan, President, and Afshin Khosravi, CEO of Trilogy, a series of on-site and web demos were conducted for a wide variety of Rhode Island community organizations. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with the groundswell of greatest interest coming from the behavioral health community.
The Network of Care, award-winning sites demonstrate an uncanny understanding of what the user wants and translate that knowledge into an imaginative, indispensable tool that forges community connection.
In the fall of 2006, the Quality Institute decided to direct the remaining 50K of grant funds from the RI Health and Education Building Corporation to the RI Network of Care for Behavioral Health project. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) immediately expressed interest in supporting the project. To make this a reality, however, more funding was still needed.
In December of 2006, following a community funding meeting, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of RI made a very generous pledge of $100,000 and in-kind support. Gateway Healthcare, Inc, the Providence Center, the RI Council of Community Mental Health Organizations, and the RI Parent Information Network also stepped up with funding, leadership and in-kind support.
In early 2007, NRI Community Services and Butler Hospital also became contributors and our partners. The Behavioral Health Network of Care now had enough funds to be launched. A steering committee was formed and Richard Leclerc, President of Gateway Healthcare, Inc. and a Board member of the Quality Institute, was named chair. In February 2007, Trilogy was contracted to build the site.
This site will be a life-line to so many. Thanks to of our community partners, the service is free, but it relies on contributions for sustainability
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of having a service like this in Rhode Island and overlook what it takes to keep a site of this size and depth running ($3,500 a month). Long-term sustainability is key, which is why we are actively seeking the help of sponsors and community partners to ensure the site continues. To support these efforts, we will be evaluating this pilot project to determine its value. This will also help us expand the RI Network of Care program to encompass other areas such as Children and Families, Seniors and People with Disabilities and Domestic Violence. Contact Laura Adams at ladams@riqi.org for more information and sponsorship opportunities.
The RI Network of Care for Behavioral Health is currently funded through May, 2008.
