RHIO Spotlight: Health Home Care Managers impact lives with MyAlerts service

“Wow, I didn’t know that my client was in an accident. I need to reach out ASAP!”

In today’s transforming world of healthcare, providers need to constantly stay on top of changes to their patient’s health status. Rochester RHIO is a leader in supporting healthcare transitions. RHIO’S MyAlerts service supports care managers by providing near real-time notifications so they can maintain high quality care for their clients.

“Our care managers are notified that a member has presented at an emergency department or has been admitted to a hospital. This assists our care managers with providing transitional services to the members, ensuring a safe and appropriate transition into the community in hopes of reducing readmissions.” said Nicole Bryl, Chief Operating Officer of Health Homes of Upstate New York (HHUNY) MSO.

HHUNY manages the infrastructure for provision of care management services to Medicaid recipients by four affiliated adult health homes, and one affiliated children’s health home. For the Finger Lakes Region served by the Rochester RHIO, Huther Doyle is the designated health home for adults, and CHHUNY is the designated health home for children. Collectively, HHUNY affiliates serve adults in 22 counties in the Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Central and Western New York regions, and children in 54 counties in Upstate New York. Partnering with more than 180 Care Management agencies and 1,700 Care Managers, HHUNY has engaged over 35,000 members since its inception in 2013.

Organizations like FLACRA (Finger Lakes Addictions Counseling & Referral Agency) and Ibero American Action League, part of HHUNY’s large provider network, have greatly benefited from the implementation of MyAlerts.

“Having RHIO’s MyAlerts service has been beneficial for the care managers to be able to follow up with clients and providers after an ER visit in real time,” said Joyce Rodriguez, Health Home Outreach Coordinator, Ibero American Action League.

“It definitely has made a difference for our agency, as we’re able to get updated medical information pertaining to our clients’ healthcare needs and crisis situations. We’re able to assist with immediate care coordination,” said Tiffani Mantegna, Program Manager of Care Management, FLACRA.

“For example, we received an alert that one of our clients was admitted to the ED,” said Mantegna. “The care manager was able to meet the client and his family at the ED and provide care coordination to get the client safely into a detox program.”

RHIO’s MyAlerts service continues to transform agency workflows, support care coordination, and improve transitions of care for patients. In addition, MyAlerts can feed directly into a patient’s record inside an EHR.

“Health Homes are tasked with reducing avoidable ED visits and hospitalizations and having the data to identify our members who utilize these services, in real-time, in the member’s electronic chart, is vital to the success of our organization and all the agencies affiliated with HHUNY Health Homes. Our job is to reduce hospitalization and improve care coordination,” said Bryl.

With RHIO’s MyAlerts service, “…care managers don’t have to go to different systems to get updates on their enrolled members. This is an automated system that gives you almost real-time notification.”