On Tuesday, the Rhode Island Quality Institute announced that it has received a $600,000 federal grant to help behavioral health care providers access Currentcare, the state's health data exchange, Modern Healthcare reports.
The Center for Integrated Health Solutions awarded the funds to facilitate data sharing between behavioral and general health care providers. The center is a joint program of HHS' Health Resources Services Administration and its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Details of the Project
With the federal funds, RIQI aims to:
- Encourage behavioral health care patients to voluntarily enroll in Currentcare;
- Help behavioral health care providers view clinical data about enrolled patients; and
- Facilitate secure data exchange between Currentcare and medical practice-based electronic health record systems (Barr, Modern Healthcare, 3/28).
RIQI's Comments
Gary Christensen -- COO and CIO at RIQI -- noted that Rhode Island's behavioral health care system serves more than 54,000 patients annually.
Christensen said, "Sharing this population's medical histories is critical to ensuring providers have the most comprehensive view of patients to best coordinate care and reduce medication errors" (RIQI release, 3/27).