How South Georgia Is Responding to COVID Surge

August 2021

A View from the Frontlines – COVID-19 Surge

in South Georgia Topic of August 25 Webinar

South Georgia has been hit particularly hard with the latest COVID-19 case surge and according to a recent article, the impact is worse than the previous surges.

How hospitals and providers are coping with this influx of patients in addition to providing care to this largely rural market will be the topic of our next GaHIN/DCH webinar: “COVID-19 – Where We Are Today, What the Future Holds.”

Speakers will be Knicole Lee, DNP, MSEd, MSN, FNP-BC, and Mark Renfro, Executive Director of HealtHIE Georgia, who will discuss their efforts to address COVID as well as the ongoing opioid epidemic, behavioral health and chronic disease.

Dr. Lee and Mr. Renfro will discuss what they experienced during the first year of the pandemic, the rollout and current status of vaccines, and how connectivity through HealtHIE Georgia and GaHIN are supporting care coordination across the continuum of care.

Dr. Lee was recently named the 2021 Community Star for the state of Georgia by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. She has created innovative programs to improve access to care in rural communities by instituting telehealth programs, promoting care coordination and providing non-emergency transportation.

Wednesday, August 25

11:30-12:00

Grady First Health System to Go Live with GWTG

Grady Health System is now submitting data through its GaHIN connection to the American Heart Association (AHA) for its Get With The Guidelines® (GWTG) program. Transferring the information through GaHIN streamlines the submission process by eliminating the tedious task of manual entry of data.

Get With The Guidelines® is a comprehensive suite of programs focused on continuous quality improvement from the AHA. The programs are based on a simple truth: that patient outcomes improve when medical professionals follow the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment guidelines. Numerous published studies demonstrate the program's success in achieving significant patient outcome improvements.

GaHIN is the first HIE to participate in the GWTG program. After completing a gap analysis to determine what EHR data was being automatically transferred by hospitals and what was being manually entered. GaHIN retooled its ADTs to incorporate the additional data elements needed for the GWTG database.

The participating providers have access to the GWTG database to research and evaluate their performance in achieving improvements and also compare their progress against other organizations as well as state and national measurements.

Helping 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.

Click here to read the DPH project overview, or contact GaHIN’s Shirelle King, who is working closely with DPH on this project.

August Update on New Tech 21 Project

GaHIN and Velatura continue to move the technology project forward, with go-live scheduled for September 30, when IBM/Truven will stop supporting the old platform. If you are a GaHIN member, there are two things you can do to expedite the platform implementation:

Return your member agreement

Many thanks to the members who have already signed and returned their new GaHIN Master Member Agreement. Remember, the only thing that changed in the agreement is the name - it's now Velatura instead of IBM/Truven.

Complete the onboarding document

GaHIN and Velatura are actively working with all members who are ready to engage to ensure prompt onboarding, regardless of their legal status.