Healthie Georgia Corporation

HealtHIE Georgia Corporation (HGaC), a not-for-profit hospital network consortium and lead applicant, along with (3) three consortium members that consist of Middle Georgia rural hospitals and their clinics, and a Community Service Board (CSB) have formed a collaborative that is working with the various state agencies (public/private) and Universities. The HealtHIE Georgia Rural Communities Opioid Response Program will address the critical needs of rural providers to leverage funding and resources to develop an outreach exchange. The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program will support health information exchange, telehealth Behavioral Health (BH) and BH care coordination, resulting in improved behavioral health outcomes for Georgia’s medically underserved citizens living in these Middle Georgia counties of persistent poverty. The objectives of the HGaC Consortium will be to assist the rural providers through education and training to demonstrate improving Health Care Quality through RCOR programs, Care Coordination, and outreach programs by the consortium. Integrating behavioral health care with primary care (“behavioral health integration” or “BHI”) is now widely considered an effective strategy for improving outcomes for the millions of Americans with mental or behavioral health conditions. The consortium members are HealtHIE Georgia’s Community Center of Baxley, Emanuel Medical Center, Jefferson Hospital, and CSB of Middle Georgia. This Consortium will represent a breakthrough solution in lowering the costs of care coordination while improving the quality of patient care. HGaC has been working with our hospital providers to prepare for the BH Care Coordination initiative. This effort will assist in the transformation of rural community healthcare systems to creating affordable, replicable frameworks that result in improved population health and clinical quality.