MX February Newsletter

A monthly roundup of news and updates from MX

February 2022 Edition

MX Webinar 

Save the date for our upcoming webinar on Thursday, March 31 from 12 pm – 1 pm PDT.  The topic will be “Learning from Inland Empire: A Roadmap for Healthcare Transformation in California.”  

With all eyes on CalAIM and California’s pressing public health and health equity challenges, learn how Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) and other Inland Empire stakeholders are preparing to seize this opportunity for healthcare transformation, where there is near-universal data sharing among hospitals throughout the region.

Join us for this timely and important discussion with our panel of experts:

  • Claudia Williams, CEO, Manifest MedEx (moderator)
  • Dolores Green, Executive Director, Riverside County Medical Association; CEO, Inland Empire Foundation for Medical Care; CEO, Inland Empire Health Information Organization (IEHIO)
  • Ed Juhn, M.D., Chief Quality Officer, Inland Empire Health Plan
  • Judi Nightingale, Director, Population Health, Riverside University Health System

You can register and share the link to the webinar here. We look forward to seeing you there!

A Commitment to Optimal Care and Vibrant Health

Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. Founded in 1996, IEHP serves more than 1.4 million residents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and nearly 90 percent of Medi-Cal enrollees in the region – approximately one-fourth of the region’s population. IEHP’s relentless commitment to improving quality for their members and communities reflects their vision: “We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health.”

A cornerstone of IEHP’s quality improvement efforts is its pay-for-performance programs, also known as P4P, which reward hospitals, primary care providers (PCPs), and independent practice associations (IPAs) for providing high-quality care. In 2018, IEHP launched its Hospital P4P Program to tackle the need for better care coordination between hospitals and community care, especially during the critical transition when a member moves from a hospital setting to home.

A key component of the Hospital P4P program is active data sharing with Manifest MedEx (MX), a statewide nonprofit health data network serving the Inland Empire. Learn more about how incentives encourage hospitals to share important clinical data to improve health outcomes and reduce readmissions, especially for vulnerable populations.

Stakeholder Advisory Recap

Here are our two main takeaways from last month's meeting of the Data Exchange Framework (DxF) Stakeholder Advisory Group:

Where’s the money?  The most interesting and pointed exchange came in the last 15 minutes of the meeting when David Ford, Vice President of Health Information Technology at the California Medical Association, tackled the big “elephant in the Zoom” – funding. Earlier this month, a letter with a budget request to invest in provider data sharing and health data infrastructure was sent to the Governor, California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), CalHHS, legislators, and other state policymakers. Manifest MedEx invites others to join the coalition.

Don’t boil the ocean. There is widespread support for SDOH and demographic data sharing so that California can effectively address health disparities and implement CalAIM. But as Claudia Williams, CEO, Manifest MedEx cautioned, “Defining a data standard is step one in a very, very long journey to actually get people to share data using that standard.”

Visit our website to learn more about this discussion and how it relates to the DxF's goal to continue conversations about funding and how to incentive the real, working data exchange needed to achieve the promise of CalAIM and AB 133.

Participant Bright Spot

CareConnectMD is a value-based care provider for fragile and medically complex patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), long-term care (LTC) facilities, and in the home, providing comprehensive primary care for this population that benefits, body, mind, and overall quality of life since 1996.

The medical group is a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) High-Needs Population Direct Contracting Entity (DCE) and one of 53 participants included in the DCE 2021 performance year. As a High-Needs Population DCE, CareConnectMD bears the financial risk and provides care for Medicare patients with complex medical needs living in SNFs, LTC facilities, or at home. The group also contracts with Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) to manage in-home care for 300 patients in their palliative care program.

CareConnectMD, a Manifest MedEx participant since 2019, relies on MX tools, including MX Notify and MX Access, to help them achieve the goals of these two programs.

Visit our website to learn how CareConnectMD partners with MX to deliver value-based, wrap-around care to medically complex patients.

MX Product Updates

Release notes 
MX product release notes are now available in the MX portal! Release notes provide users with a summary of the enhancements and bugs we’ve fixed in the portal. Each month, users will see the new release notes for that month, along with a banner and “NEW!” text that will display next to the latest release notes (see image above).

Browser compatibility
After June 2022, MX's portal will no longer be supported through Internet Explorer 11. MX portal users will need to ensure they use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge to access the MX portal going forward.

Off-shore access
MX is dedicated to the security of trusted patient health data as demonstrated by our HITRUST certification. As a reminder to all participants, the MX portal and other MX data storage must be accessed from within the boundaries of the United States, and any offshore access is prohibited.

If you have any questions, please reach out to support@manifestmedex.org.

News and Events

4 Trends to Watch in 2022 for California’s Health Data Progress

Claudia Williams, CEO of Manifest MedEx outlines four of the biggest trends in health data progress for California healthcare leaders to watch in 2022. California has set the right goals for the years ahead, including initiatives focused on reducing health disparities, effectively delivering care for our most vulnerable residents, and improving mental health services. We can’t miss the opportunity to build the health data infrastructure needed to reach these goals.

Read the article published in Healthcare News.

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Don't forget to register for ViVE 2022! On March 8th, Claudia Williams will participate in a panel titled, "The Complicated Convergence of Clinical and Claims Data, a Payors’ Perspective." This discussion will explore the current landscape, challenges, and opportunities the convergence of administrative and clinical data holds.

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Earlier this month, Claudia Williams, amongst other experts, discussed the latest capabilities to improve health data exchange in the healthcare system. Public health informatics has played a crucial and specialized role during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Health information exchanges (HIEs) have moved quickly to address the need for accurate information and stronger care delivery systems. In the U.S., there is also the need for better data flow between states. Watch the recorded HIMSS Interoperability & HIE Community webinar to learn why addressing public health issues and a better exchange of information and analyses is critical. 

Network Growth

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New data sources available on MX today:

CCDAs from the following participant:

Internal Medicine Specialists Medical Group, Inc.

Lab data from the following 9 participants:

Balboa Nephrology Medical Group
Bridget R. Briggs, M.D., Inc. (2 locations)
Clovis Unified School District (CUSD) miCare Health Center
East Bay Center for Digestive Health
Jason A. Black, M.D., Inc.
Mohammed Al-Jasim, M.D., A Medical Corporation
Rosemarie Tweed, D.O., APC
Tushar R Modi M.D., Inc.

Have questions or want to learn more? We're here to help. Reach out.

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