Lybba

Placing patients at the center of care: OPENHealth Central Obamacare is increasing the number of people with access to health insurance in Los Angeles, but that won’t automatically translate into better care. LA's healthcare systems serve more people than anywhere else. However, given the geographic, economic, and social disparities in the county, meeting the needs of the newly insured is a huge challenge. Making matters more difficult, no software service exists that is designed specially to assist primary-care teams in managing their most complex cases. Fortunately, these challenges offer an opportunity to create an innovative system and forge new partnerships that can improve care for everyone in Los Angeles and serve as an example for the entire country. Taking advantage of this opportunity will be easier with the open-source software service that we call OPENHealth Central, whose purpose is to put the 'care' back into the healthcare system. OPENHealth Central helps doctors and patients plan for visits more effectively, track experiences between visits, boost the quality of care and self-care, and provide the psychological support that comes from a rich human feedback loop. The system does this by triggering action on the part of doctors, while collecting data that drives evidence-based improvement in patient care, population health, and healthcare costs. OPENHealth Central provides patients with effective ways to organize and use their healthcare information in order to be more active participants in their own care. Beyond helping people make and prepare for medical appointments, keep track of prescriptions, and decode lab results, OPENHealth Central also encourages people to set and reach health goals through tailored care plans that offer both medical and lifestyle suggestions. Engaged patients make healthier choices, which means a healthier population—and reduced healthcare costs—overall. LA's healthcare challenges require a systematic response The newly insured have significant health needs and social circumstances that make it difficult for them to take full advantage of healthcare services. Meanwhile, this population is often treated at clinics that are already tending to those living in under-served communities where caseloads are high, funding is minimal, and compensation is restricted to face-to-face services only. A shortage of primary-care doctors in these communities already makes it more difficult to help people achieve optimal health. Fortunately, physician-led inter-disciplinary "care team" models are emerging to address this shortage while improving care. And yet there is no integrated software service that will help with this transition to a more efficient and effective care model. Placing patient needs at the center of healthcare Los Angeles can bridge the gap between insurance reform and healthcare reform in a systematic and innovative fashion by supporting OPENHealth Central, a web- and mobile-based system that helps clinical care teams better manage the health needs of patients with complex and costly chronic illnesses. When operational, OPENHealth Central will help clinical care teams: • screen, assess, and coordinate the care of patients whose complex health problems and social situations pose barriers to timely and economical care • communicate with and monitor the health of patients remotely, in order to improve data quality while saving on time and expense associated with face-to-face clinical encounters • support individualized preventive/chronic/acute wellness planning to keep people out of the hospital whenever possible • develop a primary care model of continuous personal relationships that are data-driven and accountable; doing so will help ensure that clinical quality data can be more easily shared within medical practices and across hospitals and clinics, to improve the overall quality of care of Angelenos • increase patient access to healthcare and community assistance programs, facilitating 'warm hand-offs' to people in agencies who can help the patient with their health-related needs OPENHealth Central will help Angelenos and their care-providers lead more healthy and satisfying lives regardless of their social advantages.