REACHnet and EXCELth Reach Primary Health Care Milestone

REACHnet is pleased to announce that, as of May 22nd, the Health in Our Hands (HiOH) project has been implemented at all EXCELth Primary Health Care FQHCs in New Orleans. Twenty seven tablets hosting the Pragmatic Trials App Suite (PTAS) have been installed at the Algiers, Gentilly and New Orleans East locations. The PTAS is a tablet, mobile and web-based tool for targeted study recruitment, registry building and survey collection, and was built to advance patient-centered research and patient engagement. EXCELth Algiers was the first FQHC in New Orleans to adopt the PTAS technology. Tablet workflows include recruitment for the Health in Our Hands Patient Network and for WeighSmart – a pragmatic, comparative effectiveness trial examining text message weigh-in reminders as an intervention to encourage weight loss in patients who are overweight or suffer from obesity.

Medical Director, Monir Shalaby, MD, championed the use of the HiOH tablets for clinic screenings and surveys. To that end, REACHnet worked with LPHI's Daniele Farrisi, to develop a tablet version of the Inter-Pregnancy Care Survey, a screening for history of high risk pregnancy that was in use in paper form at EXCELth Algiers. Farrisi worked with EXCELth, Access Health Louisiana & Daughters of Charity Health Centers to develop a tablet-based patient satisfaction survey to be used at all clinics. The tablet-based survey helps to increase workflow efficiency as the tablets present and collect the survey rather than staff. A quarterly file of survey answers is compiled for clinic analysis.

EXCELth Primary Health Care was the first FQHC established in New Orleans. Led by Mike Andry, CEO, EXCELth has been in operation for 26 years. Its mission is to provide excellence in community-based health care that increases access, reduces health disparities, and improves health outcomes. EXCELth operates three health centers, a dental center in New Orleans and a behavioral health program serving East Baton Rouge Parish. The collaboration between REACHnet and EXCELth has been strong and productive and REACHnet looks forward to a continued and evolving collaboration which supports EXCELth's dedication to improving the health of under-served communities.