Rural Health, Purdue Healthcare Advisers

May 27, 2015

Purdue University to help Indiana providers improve cardiovascular health

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ― Purdue University, through its health-care industry outreach initiative Purdue Healthcare Advisors, is part of a newly announced multidisciplinary consortium focused on quality improvement and the prevention of strokes and heart attacks.

The consortium, known as Healthy Hearts in the Heartland, is led by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, which received a $15 million grant this week from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to implement a cardiovascular disease research program.

Partners in the alliance will help 300 independent practices and health-care centers in three states ― Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin ― to use population-based tools and implement performance-measurement software. Purdue will receive $1.3 million in funding over the grant’s three-year term to assist 60 provider practices located in the northern half of Indiana. Purdue Healthcare Advisors (PHA) will provide direct assistance to practices to target six specific heart-health measures: the prescribing of appropriate aspirin therapy; blood pressure control; cholesterol management; smoking cessation; and the promotion of healthier lifestyles and community resources to patients.

“This alliance for heart health allows PHA to further assist providers in Indiana with important quality measures, making a measurable impact on patient health and building provider-practice, quality improvement capability,” said Randy Hountz, director of Purdue Healthcare Advisors and its Purdue Regional Extension Center. “We are excited to be working with such great partners at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine as we support this initiative and build on PHA’s knowledge of electronic health records (EHR), Meaningful Use and Lean Healthcare.”

In addition to improving heart-health measures, PHA will help practices utilize more of their EHR functionality, such as clinical decision support rules, in order to improve the overall health of their patient population. Regional assessments will help practices evaluate and improve their performance.

Other members of the consortium include the Chicago Health IT Regional Extension Center, Northern Illinois University and the Illinois Regional Extension Center, local and State Departments of Public Health, the American Medical Association, the Alliance of Chicago, University of Chicago, Telligen, and Metastar.

About Purdue Healthcare Advisors

Purdue Healthcare Advisors (PHA) was established in 2005 by the Purdue University Technical Assistance Program, the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and the Indiana Hospital Association to improve health care quality, safety and efficiency by applying the principles of engineering, management, and science. PHA manages the Purdue Regional Extension Center, one of 64 RECs nationwide providing information, guidance and technical assistance to program-eligible health care providers to support and accelerate their efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs. 

Sources:

Jeanine Parsch, communications and marketing, Purdue Healthcare Advisors, 765-337-7047, jeanine@purdue.edu

Randy Hountz, director, Purdue Healthcare Advisors, 765-494-0766 (office), 765-404-7065 (mobile), rhountz@purdue.edu 

Related News Release:

Northwestern University Awarded $15 Million to Implement Cardiovascular Disease Research Program