HJAR Mar/Apr 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2020 31 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com of the College of Medicine. “He is widely known for his expertise and compassion in treating chil- dren and adults and has also garnered accolades for his teaching, mentoring, and contributions to research.” Phillips was chosen after a national search was conducted to succeed Westfall, who stepped down as chair of the department in August of 2018 to become dean of the College of Medicine. “The Jones Eye Institute has a history of excep- tional leadership under Dr. John Shock and Dr. Westfall, serving the people of Arkansas with world-class research and eye care. I am honored to be included among that company,” said Phil- lips. “I am also grateful for the opportunity to serve in a leadership capacity within the Depart- ment of Ophthalmology as it provides the very best in education and training for tomorrow’s ophthalmologists.” Phillips was recruited to UAMS in 1997 and has held the rank of professor since 2008. He has served as chief of pediatric ophthalmology at Arkansas Children’s Hospital since 2006 and as director of the Ophthalmology Residency Pro- gram since 2015. He became the inaugural holder of the Stella Boyle Smith/Gissur J. Petursson, MD, Chair in Ophthalmology in 2009. Wendy Hart, DNP, APRN joins Northwest Cardiology – Springdale Wendy Hart, DNP, APRN, recently joined Northwest Cardiology – Springdale as a nurse practitioner. Hart earned both her doctorate and bachelor of science degrees in nursing from the University of Arkansas Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. She earned an associate degree in nursing from Illi- nois Central College in East Peoria, Ill. She has more than 13 years of nursing expe- rience in cardiology and emergency medicine. Northwest Cardiology – Springdale is located at 601 W Maple Ave, Suite 703, in Springdale. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Gives $817,000 to Upgrade Digital Health Network in State’s Rural Hospitals Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has awarded $817,000 to the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to help South Arkansas hospitals and clinics improve how they exchange patient infor- mation and ensure better continuity of care dur- ing patient transfers. The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership is a non- profit organization made up of 14 hospital mem- bers and 108 hospital-owned or affiliated clinics in the southern region of the state. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) supports and works closely with the partnership on profes- sional health education and public health issues. While some of the partnership’s hospitals and their clinics participate in the State Health Alli- ance for Records Exchange (SHARE), which is overseen by the Office of Health Information Technology (a division of the Arkansas Depart- ment of Health), none of them have been able to fully participate in the exchange because of the high costs of full membership. Several mem- ber hospitals currently are only participating at the minimal level and three member hospitals are not sharing data at all. The one-year grant will help them participate at the highest level. In addition, SHARE will pro- vide ARHP hospitals and health care providers with real-time patient results that will help them identify clinical strengths and areas that might need improvement. SHARE’s daily reports will make available to ARHP health care providers a 24-hour snapshot of critical events (such as emer- gency room visits and inpatient discharges). SHARE lets users transmit and exchange clin- ical information such as clinical care summaries, vital signs, medications, allergies, continuity of care documents (CCDs), transitions of care doc- uments, immunization records, laboratory results, radiology report transcriptions and discharge summaries. Most importantly, other providers can send clinical information instantly, so provid- ers have it before the patients arrive. SHARE’s vision is a healthier state population and a greatly improved health care system in which care givers and patients have electronic access to more complete health records and are empowered to make better health decisions with this information. SHARE’s mission is to improve the delivery, coordination and quality of health care throughout Arkansas through the statewide use of health information technology and clinical data exchange. “It is imperative our member hospitals be fully prepared for value-based care,” said Mellie Bride- well, the partnership’s CEO and a UAMS regional director of strategy, management and adminis- tration. “They must be able to share and have access to patient data as well as have the sup- port of a system that can assist them with com- piling and collecting the data to use in treating their patients. Without this assistance, our small rural hospitals will not be able to financially sur- vive the changes ahead.” New value-based care models for payment to health care providers are driving a shift to pop- ulation health approaches that focus on preven- tion, improved chronic disease management and wellness activities and away from the traditional fee-for-service model. The donation from Arkansas Blue Cross will pay for the costs of upgrading equipment and annual dues for its member hospitals and clinics to par- ticipate fully in the exchange. There is no fund- ing mechanism to assist rural hospitals and clinics Wendy Hart, DNP, APRN Paul H. Phillips, MD