Improving Quality Care for Children with Special Needs

Project Final Report (PDF, 965.03 KB) Disclaimer

Project Details -
Completed

This project developed a secure Web-based electronic health record (EHR) for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) called the Tennessee Child Health Profile (TN-CHP). TN-CHP provides comprehensive information by linking data on newborn screening (NBS) and newborn hearing screening (NHS) from the public health database of the Tennessee Department of Health with diagnostic, treatment, and followup data from programs providing CSHCN services. The goal of this EHR is to improve primary diagnosis efficiency by making it easier for primary care providers, parents, and legal guardians to access and manage CSHCN information.

The primary objectives of this project were to:

    • Give health care providers secure web access to a comprehensive electronic health record of CSHCN (with parental permission) to ensure currency of information and continuity of care.
    • Use health information technology to improve coordination and quality of care provided to CSHCN in ambulatory settings.
    • Provide accurate, comprehensive health care information for developmental tracking of children from birth to adulthood.

Partners in the project were the Genetic Centers at the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville, UT Memphis and Vanderbilt, the Child Development Center at Vanderbilt, the UT Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities in Memphis, and the University Health Systems/UT Medical Center.

The project completed the development of TN-CHP. The team successfully collaborated with major stakeholders representing State departments, academic centers, and consumer agencies. Measured outcomes included the rates of CSHCN identification from NBS and NHS, tracking of diagnosis, and delivery of CSHCN services. The project also investigated the effect of birth weight on the lag time between date of birth and diagnosis.