The Institute for Family Health Named “2011 Organization of the Year”…

The Institute for Family Health Named “2011 Organization of the Year” by eHealth Initiative in Washington, DC Ceremony

 

New York, New York (January 24, 2011) — The Institute for Family Health received the eHealth Initiative’s “2011 Organization of the Year Award” at a ceremony in Washington DC last week.  The eHI award honors an organization that makes an outstanding contribution to the improvement in the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care through the use of health information technology.

Dr. Neil Calman, President and CEO of the Institute for Family Health stated, “The Institute is thrilled to be selected for this honor.  We are proud of the work we have done to develop replicable health information technology initiatives and make them widely available.  Our clinical decision support and quality reporting initiatives, developed with New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, are now being used by nearly 2,000 care providers in disadvantaged communities.  MedlinePlus Connect, which we developed with the National Library of Medicine to provide direct links between the Institute’s patient portal and MedlinePlus, is now a public resource available to all health systems.” 

The Institute shares eHI’s commitment to promoting the role of health information technology in health care reform. Weston Willett, the Institute’s chief information officer, who attended the ceremony, said “Those of us working in this field have a responsibility to make sure that the nation’s investment in health information technology leads to real improvements in health outcomes through the implementation of clinical decision supports, routine monitoring and reporting, and the development of electronic registries.”   

Dr. Kwame Kitson, the Institute’s vice president for quality improvement, who also attended the program, added “Health IT can improve patient safety and quality, help to reduce health disparities, increase patient engagement in care, and improve the health of the public.”

The Institute also promotes efforts to maximize the effectiveness of electronic health records systems by engaging in health information exchange, starting with the patients themselves and expanding to other providers involved with patient care.  The Institute has customized its patient portal, which is available in English and Spanish, and joined several regional health information organizations to promote health information exchange.

 

eHealth Initiative is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to drive improvement in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through the innovative use of health information technology. For more information, visit http://ehealthinitiative.org/2011-ehealth-award-recipients.html

The Institute for Family Health is a federally qualified health center network with 24 practice sites in New York State. The Institute also operates two family medicine residency programs and several community health promotion programs. In 2007 the Institute was named a National Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Disparities by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2009 all Institute centers received the highest recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance as Patient Centered Medical Homes. Dr. Neil Calman, president and CEO, serves as a member of the Health Information Technology Policy Committee of the Office of the National Coordinator representing vulnerable populations. For more information, visit www.institute2000.org.