The Hub Population Health System: distributed ad hoc queries and alerts

• Published in: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA Vol. 19; no. e1; pp. e46 - e50
• Main Authors: Buck, M. D., Anane, S., Taverna, J., Amirfar, S., Stubbs-Dame, R., Singer, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Group 01.06.2012
• Series: FOCUS on clinical research informatics
• Subjects: Computer Systems; Decision Support Systems, Clinical; Electronic Health Records; Humans; New York City; Population Surveillance - methods; Public Health Informatics; Research and Applications; New York City
• ISSN: 1067-5027; 1527-974X; 1527-974X
• DOI: 10.1136/amiajnl-2011-000322

The Hub Population Health System enables the creation and distribution of queries for aggregate count information, clinical decision support alerts at the point-of-care for patients who meet specified conditions, and secure messages sent directly to provider electronic health record (EHR) inboxes. Using a metronidazole medication recall, the New York City Department of Health was able to determine the number of affected patients and message providers, and distribute an alert to participating practices. As of September 2011, the system is live in 400 practices and within a year will have over 532 practices with 2500 providers, representing over 2.5 million New Yorkers. The Hub can help public health experts to evaluate population health and quality improvement activities throughout the ambulatory care network. Multiple EHR vendors are building these features in partnership with the department's regional extension center in anticipation of new meaningful use requirements.