October 2022

Effective, timely communication between care providers has been identified as a key component of providing better patient care while lowering healthcare costs. To facilitate secure communications, GaHIN offers GeorgiaDirect at no charge to authorized providers.

GeorgiaDirect is a secure email messaging service that lets providers securely send patient health  information, such as referrals and reports, to other authorized healthcare professionals.

With GeorgiaDirect, providers can use the Internet to send and receive authenticated, encrypted health information directly with other trusted recipients, both within Georgia and nationwide.

How Is GeorgiaDirect Used?

• Coordination of care through electronic exchange of care summaries
• Meeting the MIPS Promoting Interoperability (PI) Health Information Exchange requirement
• Referrals between clinicians, health systems, facilities and authorized members of the care community
• Discharge summaries sent to the Primary Care Provider (PCP) and care community
• Lab reports transmitted to the ordering physician
• Electronic case reporting (eCR) to report COVID testing and to meet the MIPS PI requirement
• Prior authorizations for services
• Secure provider communications

GeorgiaDirect and Electronic Case Reporting

As of January 1, 2022, electronic case reporting (eCR) is required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Promoting Interoperability Program for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals and the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Promoting Interoperability (PI) Performance Category for eligible clinicians.

eCR benefits everyone involved in case reporting. It provides timely and more complete data than manual reporting and decreases the burden on both healthcare facilities and public health staff.

Contact us to find out if GeorgiaDirect and eCR can benefit your organization.

Join the Initiative to Identify Undiagnosed Hypertension

Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke as well as preventable death and disability in Georgia. The Department of Public Health’s Undiagnosed Hypertension Program uses health information technology to identify Georgians who have elevated blood pressure readings with no final diagnosis of hypertension.

Georgia ranks 15th in the United States for hypertension, and just over one in three adult Georgians have hypertension, according to the CDC. However, the Department of Public Health (DPH) estimates there are substantially more people with undiagnosed hypertension who are unaware, untreated and uncontrolled of their condition – a hypertensive population that is “hiding in plain sight” despite the fact that a high percentage have health insurance and a usual source of care.

The project has two aims: first, identify undiagnosed hypertension patients in Georgia using provider EHR data; and second, develop, test, and adopt a Georgia-specific recall protocol for the identified patients for re-evaluation and final diagnosis.

Seeking Participants

GaHIN has been successful in facilitating participation in DPH's undiagnosed hypertension project. Current participants include WellStar Health System, Morehouse School of Medicine/HI-BRIDGE Solutions and the American Heart Association. We need at least one more hospital, health system or large clinic to:

• Assist DPH in creating and testing clinical criteria to identify undiagnosed hypertension patients and implementing the criteria within your healthcare system
• Develop, test, and adopt recall protocol for identified undiagnosed hypertension patients
• Write reports and/or collaborate on publications based on the project 

For more information about participation, please contact GaHIN’s Shirelle King, who is working closely with DPH on this project.