A Hixny alert reconnected the Alliance for Positive Health with a client from way back.
“One of our homeless clients had significant behavioral health needs, but dealing with housing issues took priority for him,” said Laurie Lanphear, Director of Health Homes/DSRIP at the Alliance for Positive Health. “He fell out of care for a while until Hixny alerted us to his admission at a local hospital. Thanks to Hixny, we were able to visit him as an inpatient and get him the additional services he needs.”
Stories like this unfold continually at the Alliance for Positive Health, a community-based organization that has served people with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses for more than 30 years. Coordinating healthcare is an important part of the organization’s charge to help clients—most of whom are eligible for Medicaid and live with multiple chronic illnesses—gain access to services.
The Alliance for Positive Health joined Hixny in 2015 and saw an immediate benefit in its relations with other providers. “We used to spend a lot of time chasing down providers to get information,” Lanphear recalled. “Access to Hixny gave us that information instantly. So when we did meet with providers, we didn’t have to get each other up to speed with past results. We could jump right in and spend our time actually coordinating care.”
That coordination gained even more efficiency recently, when the Alliance for Positive Health signed on for Hixny alerts—an essential tool for its mission, as a health home, to reduce emergency department (ED) visits and hospital readmissions.
“These alerts enable us to respond much faster to our clients and start work earlier on getting them back into the community,” Lanphear said. “When we do that, we have a better chance of making sure they stay healthy and out of the hospital.”
The relationship with Hixny has also helped the Alliance for Positive Health to contribute in another key area: population health. Using Hixny data, the organization now targets and tracks client usage of healthcare resources. That new initiative led to a recent hire—a quality assurance manager to track not only patient encounters, but also follow-up efforts and eventual outcomes.
“By using the data to detect trends, we know where to focus our education efforts with clients,” Lanphear explained. “If our clients are showing up at EDs with dental pain, for instance, we can make them aware of the urgent care option, if it’s available in their area.”
Hixny’s work with the Alliance for Positive Health is part of a larger initiative to reach out to the region’s care coordination organizations.
“The Alliance for Positive Health is a model for what we’re trying to do with these organizations,” said Tavia Rauch, the Account Manager at Hixny who works with the organization. “They’re actively engaged in population health management. They’re working hard to reduce hospital readmissions. Also, they are providing quality care in collaboration with other providers. All of it made more efficient, and more effective, with data from Hixny.”
