Agenda Date: 02/16/2016
Subject:
Title
Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding and Business Associate Agreement with the Colorado Springs Fire Department for the CONNECT Colorado Mobile Integration Health Demonstration Project
Body
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Presented By: |
Chris Armstrong, Fire Chief |
POLICY QUESTION:
Does city council support a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for participation in the CONNECT Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) demonstration project?
BACKGROUND:
Glossary of terms:
MIH - Mobile Integrated Health (as it stands now LFR Cares Car)
CONNECT - Community Outreach Navigation Network Education & Collaboration Team
CSFD - Colorado Springs Fire Department (the anchor for the project)
BAA - Business Associate Agreement (standard language for HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) agreement between agencies)
There are individuals that frequently access 911 for non-911 related health care needs. The state is looking at providing funding for EMS-based programs that better address their needs. To do this they need certain data points captured, which we are now doing. We want to collaborate with other fire departments in effort to secure long-term funding from the state for all municipalities involved. The CONNECT project achieves this goal, using a set of data requirements that have already allowed some municipalities to receive limited funding.
In the next two years, there is an opportunity to receive state funding to address healthcare needs of those ‘super-users’ that access 911 the most. In order to be eligible for this opportunity, fire departments across the state are standardizing data collection methods to provide specific data needed to secure this funding. This project utilizes a set of metrics already approved by state agencies to extend this opportunity to our citizens.
Each department involved in this project would base the specific intervention on the needs and resources present in their communities, however all would share a basic structure. This MOU details a suggested shared structure, with the details to be agreed upon once all participating parties are officially signed on to the project. All programs must be community collaborations, based on addressing the needs of a medically underserved community in their area.
This demonstration project would show how a scalable community mobile integrated health intervention could improve health outcomes across different geographic regions in the state and with different types and sizes of communities. It will give fire and EMS departments the opportunity to define what these types of programs mean for them and may influence the decisions made about similar projects at the state level, in the form of statutes and regulations that may govern the work that they will do.
The BAA is a HIPAA requirement for all entities entering into the MOU with the CONNECT MIH project. The BAA assures that all entities provide the required minimum level of security and protection regarding patient information and the sharing of patient information. As a certified EMS agency, LFR already meets these requirements and no further action is needed to accommodate these provisions. The BAA ensures that we will continue to maintain our privacy measures as we always have and anyone signing onto the project will be held to the same standards.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
Staff sees this project as integral framework, data collection, and administrative support for a statewide collaborative effort to identify and better serve those within our community that most likely include the following:
Super utilizers (high number of 911 calls)
Super utilizers (high number of ED visitations/admissions)
Polypharmacy (patients with numerous prescriptions)
Other criteria deemed appropriate by collaborating partners
FISCAL IMPACTS:
No new fiscal impact
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval
PROPOSED MOTION:
Proposed Motion
I move to approve the resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding, and Business Associate Agreement with the Colorado Springs Fire Department, for the CONNECT Colorado Mobile Integration Health Demonstration Project