September 2019 –Little Rock, Arkansas The State Health Alliance for Records Exchange (SHARE) announce that Compassion Women’s Clinic that is part of Healthy Connections Community Health Network is now using SHARE, one of the country’s largest and most robust health information exchanges (HIE). Healthy Connections care teams are now accessing clinical information across participating entities for patients who have authorized sharing their medical information. This allows them to have accurate and recent results for their patients that range from children to adults.
Healthy Connections Community Health Network is comprised of eleven clinics that span from De Queen, Mena, Mount Ida, Hot Springs, Arkadelphia, Malvern and Little Rock. They provide primary care, OBGYN Care, dental care, behavioral health care and outreach to more than fifteen counties from Polk to Pulaski counties.
In Arkansas, where many large and small health systems use different electronic health record (EHR) systems, this is a particularly important milestone because the single interface to SHARE will allow Healthy Connections providers to access laboratory results, radiology reports, progress notes, discharge summaries from outside hospitals and specialty clinics in their eMDs EMR system. Healthy Connections care teams across seven counties can now view the following patient data through SHARE’s Virtual Health Record until the interface is LIVE:
- Admission, Discharge and Transfer Data
- Allergies, Problems, Medications
- Demographic and Insurance Information
- Laboratory Results, Radiology Reports
- Discharge Summaries, Continuity of Care Documents and Progress Notes
Accessing patient information through this secure exchange allows Healthy Connections significant access to better coordination with hospitals, specialist and referral partners outside their network across the state to see a more robust picture of their patients’ medical histories, engendering efficient and safe continuity of care. By accessing the Virtual Health Record (VHR), it displays information as a traditional clinical chart, with tabs to separate patient information into groups for easy chart review. The VHR retrieves and shows all available data for a selected patient gathered from all participants within SHARE to enable a single, consolidated view of a patient’s health history.
In Arkansas, where many large and small health systems use different EHR systems, this is a particularly important milestone because the single interface to SHARE enables Healthy Connections to access the exchange to better coordinate with providers and patients in Arkansas. SHARE’s continued mission is to provide better information to support high quality patient care for the State of Arkansas health care community. This is being accomplished by increasing patient results data in the HIE that is provided in real-time when doctors, providers and care teams need it.
About Healthy Connections Community Health Network
Gaps in health care are described as disparities in access to medical services when comparing different populations that fall along racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. The mission of Healthy Connections, Inc., is to fill those gaps with high-quality health care.
Healthy Connections is a Mena-based nonprofit organization serving the needs of children and adults throughout West-Central Arkansas. Since its founding in 1998 as a home visiting program, Healthy Connections has been able to provide much needed health, dental and social services to families. “We’re driven from the mission that we can provide quality health care to the population in the areas we serve. That is a population that has been neglected in the past. This population is considered underserved for a lot of services – medical, dental and behavioral health. We allow them to have easy access, affordable access, to quality health care,” said CEO Tony Calandro.
Healthy Connections providers treat thousands of patients each year who either have no insurance or not enough insurance to cover essential health and dental services. Healthy Connections currently serves as a primary care provider, dentist, pediatrician, behavioral health therapist, cardiologist, podiatrist and physical therapist. But mostly it is a place people can go to receive quality care regardless of their ability to pay. Healthy Connections has eleven medical clinics, including two school-based clinics, where physicians and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses provide primary and preventive medical services. There are three dental clinics, providing a full range of services including preventing, evaluating, diagnosing and treating diseases of the oral cavity while maintaining the function and appearance of the teeth. Two pediatric clinics providing care to the children of Arkansas, including a bilingual physician in Hot Springs. This ensures Healthy Connections can provide a high level of service to their patients and families, regardless of any potential communication roadblocks. Healthy Connections provides behavioral health services to four communities through licensed clinical social workers, professional counselors, and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. This has become a great need for many of the communities served by Healthy Connections.
Outreach services are also provided through Healthy Families Arkansas Polk and Garland Counties. Through regular home visits and monthly group meetings, the Healthy Connections staff strives to empower families to provide a healthy, nurturing environment for their children. Learn more at: https://healthy-connections.org
About Compassion Women’s Clinic
Mission: To provide the best, most advanced women's healthcare possible in an environment that is uplifting, welcoming, and compassionate.
Vision: To continually advance the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of the women in the Arkadelphia area in a manner consistent with standards in Obstetrics and Gynecology while also adhering to a Christian worldview, with emphasis on respect and dignity toward all.
Michael Carozza, MD, FACOG: Ob-Gyn Physician: Dr. Michael Carozza was raised in both Nashville and Texarkana, AR, graduating from Arkansas High School in Texarkana in 1994. He attended Ouachita Baptist University graduating in 1998 with degrees in Chemistry and Biology and then pursued a medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, receiving his M.D. in 2002. It was in medical school that Dr. Carozza became aware of his calling to serve as an Obstetrician/Gynecologist: “I remember seeing my first delivery and was mesmerized by the emotional impact of that miracle, and I realized that this was why I was on this earth.” He fulfilled a lifelong dream of service in the US Air Force after his residency program in OB/GYN at UAMS, where he and his family were stationed at Langley AFB, VA for four wonderful years of Air Force service as a physician. In 2009, he moved to Arkadelphia, AR, his college town, to begin a new OB/GYN practice, naming the clinic Compassion Women’s Clinic and modeling his practice on the message of Colossians 3:12. For more information visit: http://compassionob.com.
