Kentucky HIE and Northern Kentucky University to Expand Deployment of Consumer Engagement Tool

The Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE) and Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in Highland Heights have announced an expansion of a Consumer Engagement Readiness Tool (CeRT) to help healthcare organizations enhance patient engagement.

The Consumer Engagement Readiness Tool was developed in conjunction with the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) and HealthCAWS, a healthcare services company. The NeHC CeRT—powered by HealthCAWS—is a business intelligence tool that includes a survey-based organizational assessment, real-time progress reports, and a resource center and solutions directory.

The Kentucky Governor’s Office of Electronic Health Information and KHIE launched an initiative earlier this year to accelerate consumer and patient engagement in eHealth throughout the Commonwealth by purchasing and distributing 13 individual CeRT licenses to providers in Kentucky.

The number of providers that expressed interest in using the CeRT tool as part of this initiative was far more than expected, according to NeHC officials. KHIE has increased its purchase of CeRT licenses to include all applicants, which will bring the total number of recipients to 45 Kentucky healthcare organizations.

“We would like to congratulate the additional facilities selected for our CeRT project,” Polly Mullins-Bentley, Kentucky state health IT coordinator and acting director of KHIE, said in a statement. “I would also like to thank the Kentucky Regional Extension Center for their assistance in creating this worthwhile project. Together, we are helping providers across Kentucky integrate electronic health information into their practices and improve standards of care. Expanding patient engagement is the next step in the work we are doing to broaden health information in the Commonwealth.”