With $9.5 million in federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, nonprofit HealthEfficient is expanding its support of community health centers in the eastern United States and creating a Network for Oral Health Integration (NOHI) across at least three states and Washington, D.C.
Founded in 2007, Albany, N.Y.-based HealthEfficient helps community health centers use health information technology to improve clinical and operational performance; to reduce provider burden; and to address diabetes, hypertension, and Opioid Use Disorder.
The HRSA funding is allowing HealthEfficient to grows its "Qual IT Care Alliance" from 21 to 36 members in partnership with the District of Columbia Primary Care Association and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Community Health Centers.
Members will use HealthEfficient's new data analytics platform along with technology such as patient portals, telehealth, kiosks, and self-monitoring devices to reduce bottlenecks in patient access to care, address provider burden, and improve outcomes.
With the NOHI award, HealthEfficient will join with partners to support more than 30 health centers in integrating oral health into primary care with early intervention for patients 0 – 2 years old. "By raising the bar for oral health care for our centers' youngest patients and improving awareness for the parents, we hope to have a lifelong impact on the children and their families," said Alan Mitchell, HealthEfficient's executive director, in a prepared statement.
