Health-e-Link - Professional Services

Support Services

Health-e-link staff collaborates with our customers to understand partnerships within your network of care, the level of maturity of your collaborative business models, your vision for integrated care models and your current and planned utilization of technology. Working with you, we use this information to develop strategies for implementing transformative care delivery and program management models enabled by our technology solutions.

At Health-e-link, we work closely with our clients, large and small, because we realize the significant impact that healthcare information integration can have on resource utilization, clinical workflow, and health outcomes. Our support services and associated project management processes are designed to foster community collaboration and to help all stakeholders - patients, healthcare providers, community-based organizations and public health agencies achieve their goals. Using the Health-e-Link Suite of interoperability solutions as the foundation, Health-e-link staff works with you before, during and after implementation to ensure that your goals and objectives are met.

Planning

Prior to implementation, the Health-e-Link Team will meet with key leaders across your collaborating partnerships in order to understand your priorities for data exchange and data management. We review the collaborative organizational structure as well as existing and planned data exchange and data management practices. We then propose how our solutions can help transform your network of collaborating partners into a highly effective care delivery network with improved data sharing, data management, data analysis and reporting capabilities across your programs of care. Our staff uses an iterative consulting approach throughout the engagement to ensure that we understand your priorities, that we configure our system to meet your specific needs, and that your team understands and embraces the system to be implemented. Key planning steps include:

Business Review - We work with you to understand your community of care, your collaborating partners and healthcare challenges you hope to address.
Coalition Building - We'll help you to understand the challenges of data sharing across your coalition and ensure that you address issues to ensure productive and sustainable partnerships.
Technical Infrastructure Review - We understand the interoperability features of your clinical systems. Health-e-link will work with your in house and vendor IT staffs to configure the interfaces to connect you to the Health-e-link network.
Formalize Network Requirements - Health-e-link provides preliminary test configurations of our solution for online review, and provides mockups for any custom features that may be required. Ultimately, you'll see your network in action before we begin installation and configuration.

Installation and Configuration

Whether using our hosted solution or licensing our software for installation, configuration and management within your own facilities, Health-e-link staff will ensure that the system, and your staffs, are prepared to meet your ongoing data management needs across your network of care. Due to our solution's highly flexible and configurable features, installation and configuration is greatly accelerated and is adaptable over time. With Heath-e-link, your network of care isn't bound by the constraints of typical interoperability solutions. As your network evolves, so will Health-e-link. Key steps in our network configuration process include:

Install Health-e-link Suite - Installation and initial configuration of Health-e-link will be performed by our staff in collaboration with your IT staff. Health-e-link staff will ensure that your staff are fully prepared to support the system on an ongoing basis.
Engage Partner IT Resources - We'll provide your partner IT staffs with the technical documentation and support necessary for them to configure the interfaces required to support data exchange with Health-e-link.
Finalize Technical Specifications - Technical specifications for Care Connect, Clinical Data Warehouse, and/or Universal HIE system interfaces will be documented. Health-e-link will be configured in our test environment and your support staff will be participate in the configuration process as part of their training.
Configure System Interfaces - Health-e-link and partner system interfaces will be configured according to defined technical specifications. Interfaces will be fully tested in our test environment prior to implementation.
Test Baseline Configuration - A series of use cases will be defined and executed to verify that Health-e-link, participating partners and their clinical data systems are fully operational and meet baseline measures for transition to production.

Implementation

At Health-e-link, we understand that integrated care and collaborative business models enabled by our technology solutions potentially represent significant changes to how patient care is provided and how healthcare professionals do their jobs. We also understand that existing business and clinical practices are often developed around legacy technology-based systems and established business practices with your partners. Guided by these perspectives, Health-e-link will implement our solutions with you in a way that aligns with your priorities and capabilities. We will work with you to ensure that your clinical and technical staffs are fully trained. We will implement Health-e-link in a phased approach to ensure that your staffs aren't overwhelmed with new responsibilities. After evaluating system performance on a periodic basis, we'll evolve network capabilities to ensure that Health-e-link continues to meet your expectations. Key phases to the implementation of Health-e-link include:

Train staff - We will train partner staffs on all facets of Health-e-link operation from data submission, to system operation, to data analysis and reporting. Health-e-link staff will provide in-person training sessions as well as webinars and prerecorded tutorials.
Activate Baseline Network - Health-e-link is activated and is made available for production use. Baseline implementations typically include a group of system users and a set of system features that ensure a successful implementation of the system.
Monitor Network Performance - Following activation of the network, operational and technical support staff track activity and ensure that operational and service level commitments are maintained.
Onboard/Enhance Partners - Following an initial period of performance, additional partners will be on-boarded onto the Health-e-link network. The on-boarding process is ongoing as new partners are added and their data exchange and data management needs evolve.
Evaluate Utilization - Network utilization is evaluated on an ongoing basis. Utilization of system features as well as network activity is reviewed and steps are taken to optimize utilization and performance. Activities may include user training, modifications to system interfaces, and/or modification to system features.
Add System Features - Health-e-link is highly configurable and adapts to evolving partner needs and expectations. New referral types, modified system and/or user interfaces, as well as the addition of data warehouse record types and code sets are examples of enhancements that may be made to the system.