PHR for LTSS Demo - November Update

Minnesota Department of Human Services
PHR for LTSS Demo

PHR for LTSS Demo past updates

November 8, 2016


Wave 5 of the PHR for LTSS Demo Project has begun! 

Personal Health Record for LTSS (PHR):

The initial launch of the PHR is under way in Otter Tail County! Beneficiary data has been manually uploaded and we now have beneficiaries, legal representatives, case managers, and provider staff using the RelayHealth PHR portal. The initial launch in Otter Tail County has already taught us a great deal about our source systems at DHS and what it takes to extract meaningful data out of our systems. We plan to execute a nightly, automated upload of DHS data to the PHR by the end of 2016.  

We're also compiling an extensive list of lessons learned from the PHR launch. This will help us retain the information we're learning about the data exchange between internal DHS systems and external systems, the nuances of MMIS data, RelayHealth functionality, and user acceptance testing. 

eLTSS:

Progress with the eLTSS (electronic Long-Term Services and Supports) standard efforts has been moving along nicely. We've made excellent progress toward completing our grant requirements for the eLTSS Pilot project by having the partner organizations in the Otter Tail Community Collaborative specify which long-term services and supports data fields matter most to them and we've submitted these results to the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology. We're now focusing on the report writing capabilities of the EHR vendors for each partner organization in the collaborative and creating a standard form that can be used by each entity. 

FASI:

The documents and tools that we'll be using for the FASI (Functional Assessment Standard Items) assessment have been approved by the DHS IRB (Institutional Review Board). We've prepared the letters and data sample that we'll use to perform the assessments. We're currently awaiting approval from the federal Office of Management and Budget before we can proceed with field testing the FASI instruments. 

Experience of Care:

We received permission from CMS to forego the second round of testing of the Experience of Care survey a/k/a Beneficiary Experience Survey. DHS leadership concluded that further testing of this survey would unduly burden the targeted population as it would duplicate other efforts already under way in MN. 

RFP for Additional PHR:

DHS is currently reviewing submitted proposals for additional PHR Community Collaboratives. Updates will be coming soon. 

What are the PHR for LTSS Demo's goals?

  1. Demonstrate use of an untethered Personal Health Record (PHR) system with beneficiaries of LTSS;
  2. Identify, evaluate and test an electronic Long Term Services and Supports (e-LTSS) standard with the Office of the National Coordinator's (ONC) Standards and Interoperability (S&I) Framework process;
  3. Field test a Beneficiary Experience Survey within multiple CB-LTSS programs for validity and reliability; and
  4. Field test a modified set of Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Functional Assessment measures for use with beneficiaries of CB-LTSS programs.

Where can I learn more?

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