Coordinated Care Management

May 18, 2011

AltaMed and Health Access Solutions Join Forces to Improve Care Coordination in Southern California



AltaMed Health Care Services and Health Access Solutions today announced they will enter into a strategic relationship to improve care coordination across AltaMed’s network of staffed clinics, independent physician practices and community-based health centers, to allow healthcare facilities in Southern California share information and decision-making.

Care coordination helps ensure a patient’s needs and preferences for care are understood, and that those needs and preferences are shared between providers, patients, and families as a patient moves from one healthcare setting to another.

The announcement was made at the annual California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) Healthcare Conference in Palm Desert, Calif.

People with chronic conditions, like diabetes or hypertension, often receive care in multiple settings from numerous providers – they may see up to 16 physicians a year, according to experts. By 2020, it is expected that 157 million people in the United States will be living with at least one chronic illness. The number of individuals with multiple chronic conditions is expected to reach 81 million by 2020.   

Given the high-risk nature of transitions in care, effective patient hand-offs across clinicians and providers is essential. Health Access Solutions’ software platforms address this need.

AltaMed Health Care Services, one of the largest independent federally qualified community health centers in the U.S., delivers primary medical and dental care, and complete senior long-term care services to more than 100,000 families at 43 sites across Los Angeles and Orange counties each year. Health Access Solutions offers a Web-based multidisciplinary care coordination platform.

In 2010, CAPG added Health Access Solutions to its group purchasing organization for its Access Express™ care management software and Excelicare™ clinical functionality, which enable deeper levels of clinical integration and care coordination across diverse delivery enterprises, such as primary care medical homes and accountable care organizations.

Using the software platform, AltaMed will build upon its electronic health record system, which is widely deployed throughout its primary care physician network. The new relationship with Health Access Solutions will allow AltaMed to expand care communication capabilities among staffed facilities and partner independent practice associations to improve care coordination and maintain a patient-centered model of care across its entire delivery network.



Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
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