Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Applicant Organization: Centro Ararat, Inc. Project Director's Name: Norma Cartagena Address: 8169 Calle Concordia Suite 412 Contact Number: (787) 296-8888 ext 263 Ponce, PR 00717-1567 E-Mail Address: NCartagena@centroararat.org Program funds Requested: $150,000 web: www.centroararat.org Funding Preference: INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT / TELEMEDICINE Centro Ararat, Inc. (Ararat) is a private non-profit organization established by health care providers with a clear commitment to offer the best research and clinical services to its community of patients, with special attention to the management and treatment of HIV. Ararat has its principal location in Ponce, P.R., and maintains three other clinics in Juana Diaz, San Juan and Arecibo, P.R. Ararat is the Applicant under the FY 2022 RWHAP Part C Capacity Development Program and is requesting funding to implement an Infrastructure Development Initiative to Enhance Telemedicine Services. Ararat is requesting $150,000.00 to further enhance its capacity to use electronic communication and information technologies to provide or support clinical care at a distance. These enhancements will enable Ararat clinical staff, including nutrition counselors, mental health specialists and medical case managers, to reach out to Ararat patients safely and to link and retain them in care regardless of threats to patient safety or their lack of access to safe transportation. The enhancements include upgrades to Ararat’s systems and servers through the acquisition of hardware and software necessary to improve its technological capacity and ease of use. With funding from the project, Ararat will also improve upon its Patagonia Electronic Health Record by acquiring Patagonia’s Contactless Patient Portal for improved patient access and control over remote services, including self-service scheduling of appointments, submission of required forms and certifications, remote check-in, document scanning and realizing payments. Likewise, Ararat will further improve its e2Centro Data Management and Reporting System, by building on its data exchange architecture to further e2Centro to receive client level data from the Patagonia EHR, including data uploaded by patients through the telemedicine portal, to document proper compliance with HAB and Ararat clinical care indicators of remote services provided through telemedicine. Most importantly, this funding will enable Ararat to recruit an additional Telemedicine Educator, to assist staff and participants in the full use of the telemedicine tools. Ararat has consulted with patients at all its clinics to identify the factors that inhibit them from fully using telemedicine as a safe option for clinical care. However, most patients identified technical barriers, such as their level of comfort with the use of technology, their familiarity with the tools and apps on their smart phones, tablets or computers, and their hesitance about privacy when using technology. Reducing barriers, increasing comfort levels and familiarity and stressing the privacy features of Centro’s telemedicine tools, will enable patients to make better use of telemedicine. Increased use of telemedicine to support online efforts to reach out to new patients and to increase options for patient care will reduce gaps in patient visits and enable Ararat to increase the linkage and retention in care rates of its patients. The Telemedicine Educators will be available to “hand-hold” patients through the process so they can remove barriers and ease the novel user with the resource telemedicine represents. Likewise, the educators will troubleshoot situations that arise at the staff level, so that the experience for the patient is seamless, more time efficient and less intimidating. Increased staff expertise will undoubtedly result in an improved telemedicine experience for the patient.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
