The “Patient Engagement Framework” was recently issued by the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC), plus the NeHC released their affiliated online assessment tool called “Consumer eHealth Readiness Tool” or CeRT at the Technology Crossroads Conference in Washington D.C. November 27-28, 2012.
CeRT is an extensive organizational evaluation tool with real-time progress reports complete with a comprehensive resource library designed to gauge the strength of organizations’ patient engagement activities and help organizations prioritize their improvement strategies.
“CeRT is a resource created to help healthcare organizations measure and grow their patient engagement strategies,” said NeHC CEO Kate Berry. “We hope the Patient Engagement Framework in combination with CeRT will raise visibility and build awareness for the importance of consumer engagement and help the industry make progress in this direction.” The CeRT is also aligned with Meaningful Use consumer engagement criteria and several accountable care incentive programs.
CeRT will benefit a wide variety of stakeholder organizations, including health systems, provider groups, hospitals, health plans, health information exchanges, regional extension centers, and others interested in using eHealth to improve their connection with patients.
NeHC has partnered with the consumer engagement company called HealthCAWS to bring the tool to the marketplace. HealthCAWS is a healthcare services company focusing exclusively on helping payers and population health and delivery system clients improve health and reduce healthcare costs.
“It has been exciting to work with the NeHC team and their many colleagues to advance consumer engagement in eHealth,” said Rose Maljanian, Founder and CEO of HealthCAWS. “Dr Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health IT, said it best when he commented at a recent meeting that “Consumer engagement is the blockbuster drug of the century.”
Maljanian continued to say, “As an industry, we need to focus our resources on programs and tools that encourage our patients to maintain their personal best health, avoid unnecessary care, and partner closely with their providers to achieve the best possible outcomes.”
For more information on the National eHealth Collaborative, go to www.nationalehealth.org and on HealthCAWS, go to www.healthcaws.com.
