April 28, 2021Information Session – Connie Overview

1st Session: 12pm – 1pm

2nd Session: 6pm – 7pm

Contact for more information:

info@conniect.org

(888) 783-4410

http://conniect.org/contactus

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Welcome Medical Association Members!

This webinar is being recorded and will be made available shortly after the completion of the presentation.Please feel free to submit your questions directly to Van Ly in the chat window. We will answer your questions at the end of the presentation.

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Today’s Speaker

Jenn Searls

Executive Director, Connie

Jennifer Searls, MHA is the Executive Director at Connie, the state of Connecticut’s official health

information exchange. She has extensive experience working with health care technology and

information systems. Prior to joining Connie, Ms. Searls was the Chief Operating Officer at SOHO

Health where she led the effort to scale the former Saint Francis Healthcare Partners to a

regional clinically integrated network for the 1,700 providers and five hospitals affiliated with

Trinity Health Of New England. As the Executive lead for Connie, she will be leading efforts to

connect every hospital, lab and healthcare provider in the next two years.

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Information Session – Agenda

1. Connie Background Information

• Who is Connie?

• Am I Required to Join Connie?

• Who Has Joined Connie?

• What is Connie’s Governance Model?

• What Information is Exchanged by Connie?

• Technical Assistance & Connectivity Program

2. How Do I Join Connie?

• Checklist to Join Connie

• Important Next Steps

3. Questions

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Who is Connie?

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About Connie

Independent, not-for-profit, neutral and trusted organization authorized by State statute (CGS 17b-59d and 17b-59g) to develop

and operate statewide HIE in Connecticut

Network-of-networks model

to enable exchange of

clinical information across all

health care settings

Statewide leader for adoption

of HIE shared services that

bring meaningful and

sustainable value

Promote trust by establishing

common “rules of the road” for

guiding governance and

operations activities

Connie was established to:

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Enable the better sharing of clinical information across all healthcare settings.

Support care coordination.

Reduce preventable costs associated with readmissions, duplicative testing and errors.

Support public health reporting, research and population health analytics.

Adhere to and promote standards and interoperability.

Provide patient access to their own health information.

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Am I required to join Connie?

Participation Requirements (State Statute)

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Once Connie “commences operations”

Hospitals and labs have one year to begin connecting with Connie.

Healthcare providers have two years:• Those with an electronic health record (EHR) system will connect to Connie • Those without an EHR will begin exchanging secure messages with Connie.

Connecting with Connie means sharing your patients’ demographic and clinical data with Connie

State statute (CGS 17b-59e)

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Who has joined Connie?

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Health Systems

• Advanced Behavioral Health• BHCare• Bridges Healthcare• Community Health Resources• Community Mental Health Affiliates• Sound Community Services• United Services• Wellmore Behavioral Health

BH Providers

• First Choice Health Center• OPTIMUS Health Care• Southwest Community Health Ctr• Wheeler Clinic

FQHCs

Medicaid ASOs

IPAs/CINs

• Capitol Region Mental Health Center• Connecticut Mental Health Center• River Valley Services• Southeastern Mental Health Authority• Southwest CT Mental Health System• Western CT Mental Health Network

DMHAS Facilities

• Auerbach Pediatrics• Baker Pediatrics• Candlewood Valley Pediatrics• Canterbury Pediatrics• Center for Pediatric Medicine• Child & Adolescent Healthcare• LifeSpring Pediatrics• Litchfield County Pediatrics• Manchester Pediatric Associates• New Milford Pediatrics• Newtown Pediatrics• Pediatric Associates

• Pediatric Associates of Western CT

• Pediatric Care Center• Pediatric Health Associates• Pediatric Partners• Pioneer Valley Pediatrics• Physicians for Women's Health• Rocky Hill Pediatrics• SmartStart Pediatrics• Village Pediatrics

Medical Practices

HIE

Other

Connie Connected Organizations

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What is Connie’s Governance Model?

Trust Framework Governance Model

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Connie Operational Governance

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➢ Supported by Operations Advisory Committee and five Working Groups

➢ Membership eligibility criteria:

➢Organization has fully executed Qualified Data Sharing Organization Agreement (QDSOA)

➢Individual appointed by Connie Board

➢ Co-Chair model

Connie Management

Connie Board

ConnieOperations Advisory

Committee

Use CaseTechnical,

Operations, Cybersecurity

Issue Remediation

Privacy

Clinical Leadership

Council

Data Governance / Stewardship

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What information does Connie exchange?

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Available Use Cases

Empanelment➢ Participant sends individually identifiable demographic and health care provider data indicating a

care relationship (patient panel or encounter-based).➢ Connie populates provider directory with care team information

Clinical Data➢ Electronic messages shared to enable care coordination may include: admission, discharge, and

transfer (ADT), Labs , Transcribed Documents, communication of discrete clinical data elements via Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) Application Programming Interface (API), and clinical care documents (CCD)—submitted to the HIE directly, or retrieved from national network or point-to-point queries.

Encounter Alert➢ Participant provides a list of active patients for whom they would like to receive relevant

notifications

Three ways for healthcare users to access data in Connie

1. Connie App (EHR and Mobile App)• Connie’s SMART on FHIR application designed to present HIE data

within the context of the provider workflow in their electronic

health record (EHR).

2. Connie Provider Portal• Connie’s webpage where authorized users may log in and search

for their patient’s health records.

• Participating organizations provide Connie with list of authorized

users. Connie requires validation of an organization’s authorized

users every 90 days.

3. Data Feeds and Messaging Services• HL7 interfaces (e.g. ADTs)

• SFTP message to participating organization

Do you have Epic, Cerner or

Athena?

Do you have a system

administrator?

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Technical Assistance & Connectivity Program

Support for Connecting to Network

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Purpose:

To assist and ensure Medicaid eligible providers and entities in Connecticut can onboard to the network and meaningfully share health information with other health care providers

Types of Support:

1. TA&C (Technical Assistance & Connectivity) Program: Financial support to

help offset costs for connections to Connie

a) Legal

b) Administrative

c) Technical integration partners

d) Workflow redesigns and education

2. Technical team to guide your organization through the process

How it Works – Milestone Approach

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Milestone 1 – Legally Connect

Q/SDSOA and TA SOW are signed

Medicaid Providers will be validated by the CT AVRS identifier

Milestone 2 – Technical Onboarding to first Use Case

Go-live: Connect, test, and exchange production data for Empanelment

Milestone 3 – Technical Onboarding to second Use Case

Go-live: Connect, test, and exchange production data for Clinical Data

Patient Panel

C-CDA

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Financial Assistance for Participants Connecting to Connie

Financial Assistance for Connections

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Onboarding

Domain

Participating

Organizations

Milestone 1 Milestone 2 Milestone 3 Total

TA&C

Funding

Individual

Organization

Physician(s) and

Clinician Provider

Organization

SNF, LTPAC

Lab, Imaging

Surgical or

Ambulatory Care

Behavioral Health

$5,000 $7,500 $12,500 $25,000

Network

Connector

Health System

HIE’s

State Agency

State Program

Hospital

$15,000 $22,500 $37,500 $75,000

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How do I join Connie?

Checklist to Join Connie

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❑ Legal Onboarding❑ Sign trust framework agreement

❑ Sign on to at least two use cases

❑ Participate in the complimentary, Technical Assistance & Connectivity Program to

earn $25,000

❑ Technical Onboarding❑ Contribute data

❑ Data Access❑ Determine your practice’s access type

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Important Next Steps

Step Target Date

Review and Complete Legal Agreements:

• Simple Data Sharing Organization Agreement “SDSOA”

• Technical Assistance & Connectivity Program SOW

• Use Case Exhibits

May 20, 2021

Get Connected to Connie and Earn $25,000 September 30, 2021

Get Connected to Connie and Meet State Statute May 1, 2023

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Connie is Open for Data Sharing

Join Connie and help us in our mission to improve health outcomes

in Connecticut

Contact for more information:

info@conniect.org

(888) 783-4410

http://conniect.org/contactus