What exactly do I have to do to join this program?
 

You must first register and learn more. You will receive a practice assessment that will give you personal feedback about your practice performance and overhead compared to comparable practices nationwide.  You will participate in conference calls with other practices so that you could make the most out of free tools, technologies and methods.
 

What is the free technology offered?
 

HowsYourHealth.org (for patients and practices) (HYH) is a family of tools that assesses patients’ needs and provides them information based on their needs, summarizes their needs, and sends the information to the office. HYH also assists patients with problem solving for common problems and better self-management. and automatically populates a registry so that no office staff time is required. We also supply a phone coach program for patients.
 

How will this work with the EMR I currently use or I’m in the process of implementing?
 

These technologies do not depend on any EMR. The information can be imported if the practice wishes and if the EMR is able to import information from external sources.
 

Do I have to enter any demographic data?
 

No. the patient enters data. You and your staff enter nothing.
 

How will I be informed of the information my patients enter in howsyourhealth.org?
 

Your patient can bring you a paper copy of their report or email it to your practice.
 

I do not have time to tell my patients too much about this program. How will you promote it to them?
 

Part of the project is to work through with practices how best to interest patients in using these technologies. We provide the materials practices may want to try such as newsletters, posters, and patient handouts about the practice that include information about the technology, etc.
 

Where has this been done before and what were the results?
 

There are currently more than 100 physicians in the United States, including 24 physicians in Missouri. Practices who start doing this find that it is positively transforming many aspects of the way they care for patients… in particular, they and the patients are more often “on the same page”, the practice and patient are much better at providing patient, self-management support, and the practice becomes more efficient. View the map.