Name any aspect of care coordination at Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services, and you can bet Hixny is involved.
Access to information is essential to the work of the agency, which coordinates healthcare for people in need across a 13-county area of the Capital Region. Such coordination is one among many agency services, which include case management, housing, and prevention.
Since joining Hixny in June 2016, Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services has used patient data from the system to expedite the member signup process, assess members’ health needs, develop plans to keep them healthy, and inform required assessments. Real-time alerts let care managers know when a member has entered the hospital or emergency department (ED), enabling them to arrange care in a timelier, more effective manner.
“Hixny has given us the capacity to better assess the needs of our members and coordinate their care appropriately,” said Ric Pacheco, Health Homes Coordinator for Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services. “Every benefit of Hixny connects with our mission of keeping members healthy.”
Many times, Hixny information has been key to getting members in the program in the first place. People with two chronic conditions are eligible for care coordination, but verifying those conditions through health records can be difficult.
In a recent case, it was nearly impossible.
“One of our members hadn’t seen a medical provider for more than ten years, when he was living in another part of New York State,” Pacheco recalled. “He had nowhere else to turn, but in order to serve him we had to document his two chronic conditions. He signed a Hixny consent form for us, and Hixny turned up his medical information—including confirmation of the diagnoses that qualified him for services.”
Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services provides for its members through the state’s Medicaid Health Homes program. As part of this program, according to the Health Homes website, “all of an individual’s caregivers communicate with one another so that all of a patient’s needs are addressed in a comprehensive manner.” Care Managers at Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services oversee the communication and ensure access in accordance with Health Homes requirements.
Hixny has become a regular part of the workday for the agency’s case managers, Pacheco said.
“Just since last year, we have expanded our use of Hixny throughout the agency. It’s written right into our workflows and policy. This has been critical, in many instances, to linking members to needed services with minimal barriers.”
