New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo nearly has announced nearly $700 million in funding for the creation of a unified healthcare system in Brooklyn—$70 million of which will go toward the development of an enterprise-wide health IT platform.
According to an announcement from the governor’s office, “The targeted investments will strengthen local healthcare facilities to close current gaps and increase services; develop a 32-site ambulatory care network that will include partnerships with existing community-based providers; and transform the healthcare system by increasing access to quality services and preventive care. The announcement builds on the Governor's transformative Vital Brooklyn initiative to improve the healthcare delivery system in Brooklyn.”
Indeed, consistent with the recommendations in Northwell Health's "The Brooklyn Study: Reshaping the Future of Healthcare," Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center have partnered together to create One Brooklyn Health, which will serve as an integrated, central health care delivery system in Central Brooklyn, according to the announcement.
According to officials, the funding “will support the development of an expansive integrated ambulatory care network, significant infrastructure modernization at each of the three hospital facilities, including regionalizing clinical programs and restructuring inpatient services, and the creation of enterprise wide health information technology platform to improve coordination and delivery of care through an efficient, high quality regional healthcare delivery system.”
Specifically, a few of the major areas in which the funding will be used include:
$210 million to develop a 32-site ambulatory care network: The expansive network will include partnerships with existing community-based providers, to increase access to primary and preventative healthcare services in the highest need areas of Central Brooklyn. These new facilities are expected to add approximately 500,000 new ambulatory care visits a year, which will more than double the number of visits that currently exist in the area.
$70 million to create an enterprise wide health IT platform: Critical to the funding support for One Brooklyn Health are the investments to develop a community-wide health information technology system, which will enable the development of a single electronic health record (EHR) system integrated across the three hospitals technology platforms and the provider care network. The goal, officials noted, will be to position the health system to thrive in the new world of payment reform and population health. In particular, they said, the new health information technology platform will look to:
- Effectively support clinical decision making, improve quality and patient care outcomes,
- Develop effective care management capabilities and create operating efficiencies, and
- Enable uniform measurement of medical and social determinants and reporting of a standard set of outcome measures to effectively gauge the success of interventions undertaken by the health system and its community partners is addressing social determinants of healthcare and its impact on community health status.
For far too long, chronic disparities in healthcare have contributed to systemic poverty in Central Brooklyn, and ‘Vital Brooklyn’ is a national model for tackling those challenges and addressing every facet of community wellness," Gov. Cuomo said in a statement. "This holistic investment creates a sustainable, unified healthcare system to empower historically underserved communities, support health and wellness and ensure a brighter future for the people of Brooklyn."
