Whitehouse showcases CurrentCare’s help of vets

SEN. WHITEHOUSE was a lead advocate for the inclusion of funding for health information technology in ARRA. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/VICTORIA AROCHO
SEN. WHITEHOUSE was a lead advocate for the inclusion of funding for health information technology in ARRA. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/VICTORIA AROCHO

PAWTUCKET – U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the Rhode Island Quality Institute, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently held an information session at Memorial Hospital for leaders and advocates from the veterans community to learn more about CurrentCare, a system that gives authorized health care providers secure access to consented Rhode Island patients’ medical information to help improve care.
CurrentCare, which received federal grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, gives Rhode Island health care providers electronic access to patients’ health information – like lab results, prescriptions, X-ray reports, and information from prior physician or hospital visits – on a single, secure network to improve care coordination and reduce duplicative care. More than 400,000 Rhode Islanders have enrolled so far. Last year, with support from the Rhode Island Foundation, RIQI began an initiative to give Rhode Island veterans the many advantages of CurrentCare.
Tuesday’s information session will help RIQI extend the health information network to patients at Providence’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center and throughout the VA health system in Rhode Island. Attendees will learn about CurrentCare from Senator Whitehouse, RIQI CEO Laura Adams, and see a CurrentCare demonstration.
In 2009, Senator Whitehouse was a lead advocate for the inclusion of funding for health information technology in ARRA. He wrote the provision to establish the Regional Extension Center Program to provide assistance to health care providers during the adoption of electronic health records. RIQI is the only organization in the nation to win the three major health information technology awards created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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