Brooklyn Communities Collaborative Inc

COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING - NON-CONSTRUCTION - TELEHEALTH IS AN APPROACH TO HEALTH CARE DELIVERY THAT IS BOTH PATIENT-CENTERED AND PROTECTIVE OF PATIENTS AND PHYSICIANS ALIKE. A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT TELEHEALTH HAS BEEN LINKED TO NUMEROUS BENEFITS INCLUDING COST SAVINGS AND IMPROVED HEALTH OUTCOMES, AND HAS REMOVED KNOWN BARRIERS TO CARE SUCH AS TRANSPORTATION AND COMFORT. A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS PRIORITIZE HAVING ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE OVER THE NEED FOR HUMAN INTERACTION WITH THEIR PROVIDERS. UNSURPRISINGLY, THE EXPANSION OF TELEHEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES, ACCELERATED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DRIVE LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENTS IN CLINICAL CASE MANAGEMENT AND OVERALL OPERATIONS. AN ELECTRONIC CONSULTATION, OR ECONSULT, INVOLVES REMOTE, ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN REFERRING PROVIDERS AND SPECIALTY PROVIDERS. IMPORTANTLY, ECONSULTS HAVE BEEN LINKED TO REDUCED WAIT TIMES FOR SPECIALTY CARE, SHOWING THAT FOR PATIENTS REQUIRING AN IN-PERSON SPECIALTY CARE VISIT, THE MEDIAN WAIT TIME DECREASED BY AS MUCH AS 50%. ADDITIONALLY, ECONSULTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO ENCOURAGE GREATER INTERACTION BETWEEN REFERRING AND CONSULTING PROVIDERS, IMPROVING PATIENT PREPAREDNESS FOR CONSULTATIONS AND, BY EDUCATING THE REFERRING PROVIDERS, REDUCING THE NET NUMBER OF REQUESTED CONSULTATIONS OVER TIME. INVESTMENT IN THE UNDERLYING DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS REQUIRED TO DELIVER THESE IMPROVEMENTS. THIS REQUEST ALIGNS WITH EXISTING FEDERAL EFFORTS TO INVEST IN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE, PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, BUILD ON EXISTING SUCCESSES AND FURTHER EXPAND EFFICIENT ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING LANDSCAPE. TO EXPAND ON EARLY SUCCESS WITH AN ARRAY OF TELEMEDICINE INITIATIVES, BROOKLYN COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE (BCC)—A UNIQUE COLLABORATION AMONG HOSPITALS, FQHCS AND COMMUNITY PROVIDERS IN BROOKLYN—IS BUILDING A COMMUNITY-WIDE ECONSULT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT, ASYNCHRONOUS CONSULTATIONS TO SCARCE SPECIALTIES, SUCH AS ENDOCRINOLOGY. IN DOING SO, B CC WILL IMPROVE ACCESS AND EFFICIENCY WHILE DECREASING WAIT TIMES FOR PATIENTS MOST IN NEED OF IN-PERSON CONSULTATIONS, SUCH AS THOSE WITH UNCONTROLLED CHRONIC CONDITIONS. THE PROGRAM WILL LICENSE, CONFIGURE, DEPLOY AND SUPPORT A SHARED PLATFORM FOR REFERRAL ACCESS ACROSS A BROOKLYN NETWORK OF COMMUNITY PROVIDERS AND FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTERS, INCLUDING THE BROWNSVILLE MULTI-SERVICE FAMILY HEALTH CENTER, MAIMONIDES HEALTH, ONE BROOKLYN HEALTH, AND SUNY DOWNSTATE. FOLLOWING A TRADITIONAL PILOT MODEL, THE PROGRAM WILL IDENTIFY AND LAUNCH TWO HIGH-DEMAND SPECIALTIES IN MONTHS 1-6 AND THEN EXPAND TO ADDITIONAL SPECIALTIES THAT ARE IDENTIFIED THROUGH A COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN MONTHS 7-12.