Bangor Beacon Community

Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 18:00

The Bangor Beacon Community is one of 17 sites nationwide dedicated to advancing the adoption of electronic health records and expanding connections through health information exchange.

Goal:

Improve the health of patients with diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, and asthma by enhancing care management; improving access to, and use of, adult immunization data; preventing unnecessary ED visits and re-admissions to hospitals; and facilitating access to patient records using health information technology.

Contact Information:

http://www.bangorbeaconcommunity.org/

Bangor Beacon Partners

The Acadia Hospital
The primary mission of The Acadia Hospital is the provision of both hospital-based and community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment services to the people of Maine. Reflecting the caring nature of its mission, The Acadia Hospital is committed to providing quality services which foster dignity and a positive environment for children, adolescents, and adults with mental health and chemical dependency problems and to advocating for their mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

The services of The Acadia Hospital are responsive to individual needs and must be high quality, cost-effective, and accessible, achieving a balance between community needs and available resources. The Acadia Hospital shall seek to continually improve services by promoting education of patients, staff, students, families, and the general public in matters of mental health and substance abuse. The Acadia Hospital encourages non-patient financed clinical and non-clinical research within guidelines approved by the Board of Directors.

As part of the regional network of Eastern Maine Healthcare, the mission of The Acadia Hospital shall be at all times consistent with and supportive of the goals of Eastern Maine Healthcare.

Community Health and Counseling Services
Mission Statement
Community Health and Counseling Services will provide community health services which are needed by the communities we serve and valued by our customers.

Vision Statement
Our vision at CHCS is that of a highly valued provider of community health care services noted for the excellence of services we offer, our commitment to those we serve, and the dedication of our people.

In 1994, CHCS expanded outside of the four counties (Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington) and opened offices in Kennebec, Somerset and Aroostook counties. The organization also signed its first contract to provide services outside the State of Maine in collaboration with another provider.

CHCS continues to maintain a leadership role in the delivery of community based home and behavioral health care. The organization was instrumental in the development of the Behavioral Health Network of Maine. As changes occur in the political and funding environment, CHCS maintains the ability to adapt to the changing environment and to ensure continuity in the provision of quality health care services to its consumers.

The late 1990s has seen new innovations in the agency’s program offerings. CHCS launched a medical Hospice program in the summer of 1997, and since has expanded the program to serve residents of Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington counties. A Phase I Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, “Healing Hearts,” is now providing home-based recovery from various heart ailments and surgeries. A Deaf Services program now provides mental health services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing populations.

CHCS serves as lead agency of Northeast Crisis Service, which since 1997 has provided an array of crisis prevention and intervention services to children and adults in Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington counties. Trained telephone crisis workers, mobile crisis teams, and a six-bed adult crisis residential unit are among services that can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week under CHCS’s leadership.

Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC)
Eastern Maine Community College provides the highest quality post-secondary technical, career, and transfer education and serves as a dynamic community resource.

We offer more than 30 one- and two-year program options, as well as short term and specialized training and retraining courses for business, industry, and community. We award associate in applied science, associate in science, and associate in arts degrees; certificates; diplomas; and documents of completion for customized, short-term programs and courses.

At EMCC, we prepare technicians and skilled workers for careers in mechanical, engineering, and construction industries; allied heath professions; and business occupations. We develop programs of study in cooperation with experts currently working in representative areas of technology and business.

We are dedicated to providing all students with a well-balanced education focused on problem solving, decision-making, communications, social understanding, computer applications, mathematics, and science. Our technology programs include concentrated studies in both technical theory and application in the area of specialization, and all of our programs require liberal arts courses to form the foundation for lifelong learning. Our programs and student support services are designed to develop leadership skills, personal responsibility, teamwork, and appreciation of the complex world around us.

Located in the heart of Bangor, our 72-acre campus is adjacent to the Hogan Road exit off Interstate 95—just a short distance from Eastern Maine Medical Center, downtown Bangor, and the Bangor Mall—and is served by public transportation. Campus facilities include four buildings housing classroom, lab, and shop spaces; two residence halls; Johnston Gymnasium; and the Campus Center, a focal point of campus activities including the Enrollment Center, library, classrooms, and McCorkill Dining Hall.

Established in 1966 by the Maine State Legislature, under the authority of the State Board of Education, EMCC was originally known as Eastern Maine Vocational Technical Institute (EMVTI). The college was moved in 1968 from temporary quarters in downtown Bangor to its present campus on Hogan Road. In 1986 the 112th Legislature created a quasi-independent system with a board of trustees to govern all six of Maine’s VTIs, and in 1989 another law changed the names of these institutions to more accurately reflect their purpose and activities; EMVTI thus became Eastern Maine Technical College (EMTC). The name of the College changed again in 2003 from “Technical” to “Community” to more accurately reflect its purpose.

Healthcare Systems (EMHS)
Mission, Vision, Values
If EMHS president and CEO M. Michelle Hood has her way, by the year 2012, EMHS will be the best rural healthcare system in America. If you ask Michelle how she expects this to be accomplished, she will tell you that EMHS is already well on its way, as evidenced by our pillars of excellence:

People –emphasizing retention of our excellent staff as measured by minimizing turnover
Service – standing out among our peers by demonstrating outstanding patient satisfaction
Quality – aggressively pursuing quality by eliminating mistakes that affect patient care through zero preventable adverse events
Finance –continuing to solidify our mission by maintaining outstanding financial performance.
Growth – strengthening our organization by adding to our net revenue;
Community – improve integration of EMHS in the community through transparency, community service, improved community trust, and collaboration.

In addition to the goals around these five pillars, EMHS is committing to new initiatives in community health – which include pursuing ideas relative to reducing obesity in our communities.

EMHS Mission
The mission of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems is to maintain and improve the health and well-being of the people of Maine through a well-organized network of local health care providers who together offer high quality, cost-effective services to their communities.

EMHS Vision
EMHS will be the best rural healthcare system in America by 2012.

EMHS Values
To accomplish its Mission and Vision, EMHS will embrace these values:
Passion – We demonstrate a passion for caring for others and the pursuit of service excellence in all that we do.
Innovation – We are capable of extraordinary creativity and are willing to explore new ideas to achieve our healthcare mission.
Integrity – We commit to the highest standards of behavior and doing the correct thing for the right reasons.
Respect – We respect the dignity, worth, and rights of others.
Accountability – We take a responsible and disciplined approach to achieving our priorities and responding to an ever changing environment.
Partnership – Working together in collaboration and teamwork is more powerful than working alone.

Eastern Maine HomeCare
Eastern Maine HomeCare is one agency comprised of three home care organizations already under the EMHS umbrella of services. The agencies merged into Eastern Maine HomeCare to combine their expertise and knowledge, providing increased opportunities for growth and services in their respective communities in northern, eastern and central Maine. Our home care and hospice services are paid for by public and private sources, or directly by patients and their families. EMHC is grateful for the generous donations from individuals, businesses and towns that help ensure continued access to services. For more information about how we can assist you or a loved one with our home health or hospice services, please call our EMHC Patient Referral Line toll-free 1-866-591-8854.

Mission Statement
To provide the highest standard of home care to the people in our communities, always treating them with dignity, compassion and respect.Vision Statement
Our vision is to be the best home care agency in the nation. To achieve our mission and realize this vision Eastern Maine HomeCare will embrace these values:

To provide the highest standard of home care to the people in our communities, always treating them with dignity, compassion and respect.Our vision is to be the best home care agency in the nation. To achieve our mission and realize this vision Eastern Maine HomeCare will embrace these values:Passion: We will demonstrate a passion for caring for others and the pursuit of service excellence in all we do.
Innovation: We will use creativity and explore new ideas to achieve our healthcare mission.

Integrity: We are committed to the highest standards of behavior and to doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Respect: We will respect the dignity, worth and rights of others.

Accountability: We will take a responsible and disciplined approach to achieving our goals and responding to an ever changing environment.

Partnership: We recognize that working together in collaboration and teamwork is more powerful than working alone.

Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC)
EMMC Mission
Eastern Maine Medical Center strives to provide exceptional primary and specialty healthcare with a passionate pursuit of excellence in patient safety, clinical quality, and service. Our mission is to care for patients, families, communities, and one another.

EMMC Vision
Guided by the communities we serve, EMMC will inspire confidence among our patients and peers, setting the standard for exceptional, affordable care. Unparalleled safety, clinical quality, and service will be our hallmark, with consideration for each individual.

EMMC Values
Respect for the individuality and dignity of patients, families, physicians, employees, volunteers and regional healthcare partners;

Compassion that recalls and supports the most basic motivators in healthcare—to care, to cure when possible, to comfort, and to do no harm;

Commitment to promoting a workforce empowered to ensure the safest, most effective care possible, and fostering realization of employees’ full professional potential;

Quality health services that are safe, effective, affordable and constantly improving;

Integrity that drives the highest standards of behavior and a disciplined approach to doing the right thing for the right reasons for each patient;

Responsibility for meeting the healthcare needs of the region in collaboration with other providers, anticipating future requirements, and advocating for access to vital healthcare in the region;

Innovation that reflects an active and creative learning environment, supports research and education and secures access for the residents of our region to the most modern techniques and technologies

EMMC Clinical Research Center
The EMMC Clinical Research Center is multidisciplinary and collaborative, and seeks to enhance EMMC services and patient care. The Clinical Research Center is integrated with current EMMC operations and its Five Pillars of Excellence: People, Service, Quality, Finance, and Growth.

EMMC’s Clinical Research Center is easily accessible and provides a support system for clinical investigators who have new ideas for clinical research. The experienced professional staff serve as a liaison between clinical investigators and clinical trial sponsors, providing support in all areas of clinical trial budgeting, contracting, management, and operations. The Center also maintains a database of principal investigators in multiple specialty areas, and provides referrals to physicians for research opportunities.

Objective
The objective of the Clinical Research Center is to support, coordinate, and direct sponsored and non-sponsored activities in epidemiological, clinical, behavioral, and outcomes oriented clinical research. The Center enables EMMC providers to pursue independent research by offering, advising, and administering competitive research grants. It also provides services related to IRB submissions, research SOPs, Good Clinical Practice Guidelines (GCP), contract negotiation, budget preparation, administration of grants, and developing, maintaining and analyzing research data.

Goal
In the end, the Clinical Research Center seeks to contribute knowledge toward good patient care and help to discover better healthcare practices.

HealthInfoNet is an independent, nonprofit organization advancing the meaningful use of health information technology to improve patient care quality and safety. HealthInfoNet’s core function is the management of a secure electronic network, called a health information exchange, where health care providers can share important medical information on their patients. Using the network, providers share information like drug allergies, prescriptions, medical conditions, and lab and test results. In an emergency, this helps providers quickly and more accurately diagnose and treat patients. In non-emergency situations it can decrease ordering of repeat tests and give providers a more complete picture of their patients’ care. Maine’s largest health care systems, along with a statewide primary care group practice and an independent rural hospital, tested the network over a two-year period and it is now being made available to doctors and hospitals throughout the state. Future goals also include providing a secure online portal where patients can access their medical information from any location, at any time.

HealthInfoNet is also the recipient of a federal grant designating it as one of the many Regional Extension Centers (REC) created across the country. Funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the purpose of a REC is to provide education and technical assistance to help health care providers select, implement, and achieve meaningful use of certified EHR technology. One of the meaningful use requirements is the ability to exchange health information across provider organizations, something already enabled through HealthInfoNet’s health information exchange network.

HealthInfoNet incorporated in 2006 and is governed by a board of directors and several committees run by Maine people serving on behalf of doctors, hospitals, public health, patients, and groups representing various consumer interests. The organization provides services across the State of Maine, and maintains administrative offices in Portland.

For more information visit www.hinfonet.org.

Maine Primary Care Association
Maine Primary Care Association (MPCA) is a non-profit organization, strategically located in Augusta, with nearly 30 years of experience in representing and serving Maine’s primary care safety net. Consisting of community health centers and tribal health centers across the state, the Maine Migrant Health Program, and Portland Public Health Division’s Healthcare for the Homeless Program, Maine’s primary care safety net exists to ensure affordable quality health care is available to all.

Our members offer primary and preventive health care in areas and to populations of Maine where health care access is otherwise a challenge, and do so through a discount payment program, referred to as a sliding fee scale, to allocate discounts for services to patients based on their family income and size. In essence, community health centers exist to eliminate barriers to care, whether they are travel or family budget constraints, or lack of health insurance. In doing so, they open doors to health care by offering all Maine residents the benefit of a health care home.

In turn, MPCA exists:

To ensure that the community health centers of Maine can speak with one collective voice in the best interest of their patients;
To bridge medical practices and the public health sector; and
To offer programs and services that benefit Maine’s primary care safety net providers and the communities they serve.

MPCA’s programs and services include:

Advocacy Efforts
Clinical Staff Recruitment & Retention
Clinical Student & Resident Educational Placements
Community Development
Emergency Preparedness Planning
Health Information Technology (including Electronic Practice Management (EPM) & Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Project Management & Support
Outreach Initiatives & Support
Quality Improvement Initiatives (Focusing on Office Efficiency and Patient Care)
Technical Training

Penobscot Community Healthcare
Penobscot Community Health Care is a non-profit organization governed by a board of community volunteers, incorporated in 1997. We are passionate about our Mission at PCHC – We provide access to patient-centered, high-quality, comprehensive, integrated health care services regardless of ability to pay. Our Vision that health care is a right, not a privilege energizes and animates us.

Focusing on the health of every patient, Penobscot Community Health Care offers a medical home with access to many health services in addition to primary health care, such as dental, integrated mental health, pharmacy, physical therapy, case management, health and nutrition education, chronic disease management, speech and audiology services, and many medical specialists.

Although only ten years old, PCHC is the largest FQHC in Maine, within the top three to four largest and most comprehensive of the 100 FQHCs in New England, and the largest primary care practice in Maine. In 2009, our 120 full and part time practitioners will provide 250,000 patient visits for about 50,000 people – half the population of the greater Bangor area. Our four main clinics are open seven days a week and most holidays- to provide continuity of care and reduce costly emergency room visits.

Ross Manor
Ross Manor campus offers three professional levels of care and support for residents, including Assisted Living, Skilled Rehabilitation and complete Nursing Care services. Our community includes Sylvia Ross Home Assisted Living Apartments, memory-impaired living at Engel Place Memory Impaired Care, Waterman Skilled Services for Skilled Rehabilitation Care and Williams Skilled Services for those in need of Medical Skilled Care. For those who require more comprehensive Long-Term Care, we offer Laurel Nursing Care; and should the need arise, we have two private suites at Ross Hospice.

St. Joseph Healthcare

St. Joseph Healthcare operates St. Joseph Hospital, a 112-bed acute care community hospital located in Bangor; several internal medicine and medical specialty practices; and St. Joseph HomeCare, a home health agency and hospice program.

Founded in 1947 by the Felician Sisters of Enfield, Connecticut, St. Joseph Healthcare’s mission embodies wellness promotion and healing of the whole person – mind, body and spirit. The Organization is sponsored by Covenant Health Systems, a values-based, Catholic not-for-profit health care system based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Covenant sponsors hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living residences and other health and elder services throughout New England.

St. Joseph Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and is licensed by the Maine Department of Human Services. It is a modern facility that includes a state-of-the-art Emergency Department and Operating Suites; a Medical Imaging Center that includes MRI and C-T; Cardiology; Cardiac Catheterization Lab; Endoscopy Department; Nuclear Medicine; Laboratory; Pain Management; Physical and Occupational Therapy; Respiratory Care; Wound, Ostomy and Hyperbaric Medicine Center; and the St. Joseph Diabetes Institute of Behavioral Medicine.

St. Joseph Healthcare has an operating budget of more than $80 million, and employs more than 800 people in more than 30 departments – from physicians and nurses to clerical and support staff. The dedicated people of St. Joseph Healthcare extend the very best care to others by living out the Organization’s wholistic mission each and every day…a mission that encompasses compassion, competence and community.

are the words we live by, each and every one of us who comprise the caring community of St. Joseph Healthcare. We take our Mission seriously. Those we serve depend on it.