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Health Services Department recommending the Board authorize the Chair to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Marshall Medical Center for participation in the Access El Dorado (ACCEL) Care Pathways Program. This MOU contains the terms and conditions upon which the participant(s) shall provide and/or receive clinical and related information through the Care Pathways Services, as coordinated by ACCEL. The agreement is effective upon full execution and shall continue unless terminated.
FUNDING: Funding for the Care Pathways Program has come from a variety of sources, including but not limited to, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), and the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) component. There is no remuneration between the parties to this MOU.
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Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: There is no remuneration between the parties to this MOU. There is no Net County Cost associated with this MOU.
Background:
ACCEL is a county-wide health collaborative dedicated to improving the County of El Dorado residents' access to, and quality of, health care, in part by building transparent patient program linkage across agencies.
Initially Barton Healthcare System hosted the server for the software program, iREACH, which supports the Care Pathways electronic processes. As an ACCEL participant, the Health Services Department entered into a MOU with Barton for participation in Care Pathways. In early 2011, Marshall Medical Center assumed hosting responsibilities for the iREACH software; therefore, the MOU for participation in the Care Pathways Program is now with Marshall Medical Center.
The Care Pathways Program is a "cross-agency case management program to ensure that a resident's needs are attended to throughout many encounters in the health access and delivery process. Each pathway defines the problem to be addressed, the desired positive outcome, and the key intervention steps required to achieve the outcome. The program provides a standardized accountable structure to shift the focus towards defined outcomes.
Care Pathways provide access to, and utilization of, primary and specialty care services. Care Pathways were developed as a paper process to enable clear cross-agency patient referrals with transparent interactive work process definition. Automation of the paper process is intended to increase efficiencies, ensure accurate and timely communication, and improve patient outcomes. Work on the automation of various Care Pathways is ongoing.
Reason for Recommendation:
The mission of the ACCEL Initiative is in keeping with the goals of the Health Services Department. Authorization and execution of the attached MOU will ensure the Health Services Department, on behalf of the County, continues as an active participant in this worthwhile and forward-thinking project.
Action to be taken following Board approval:
1) Chair to sign three (3) original MOU's.
2) Board Clerk's Office to return two (2) signed MOU to the Department.
3) Department to submit one (1) fully executed MOU to the ACCEL staff.
Contact: Kathy Lang
Concurrences: County Counsel and Risk Management