COCHS Issue Paper

This paper “shares insights from the experiences of five jurisdictions working to implement different forms of HIT connectivity. Although there is no turnkey solution, there are lessons to be learned. [The] intent here is to share these lessons with those interested in improving health care in jail environments and with jurisdictions that are looking for ways to create connectivity in their communities” (p. 5). Sections of this report cover: bridging the islands between jail management systems, jail health systems, and community health systems; three guiding principles for connectivity-policy, resources, and champions; and HIT (health information technology) connectivity in Orlando County (FL), Multnomah County (OR), New York City, Hampden County (MA), and Fayette County (KY).

"Meaningful use is the linchpin of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, established under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to provide incentive payments to eligible providers that adopt and demonstrate “meaningful use” of certified EHR [electronic health record] technology. Providers demonstrate meaningful use by “attesting” to certain criteria for different stages of meaningful use ... This article provides an overview of the meaningful use landscape, emphasizing the applicability of meaningful use to health care provided in jails, as well as exploring the benefits and difficulties of participating in this program for jail health care providers. It also describes the steps that jail health care systems must pursue in order to participate in meaningful use" (p. 1). Sections of this paper cover: issue introduction; what meaningful use is; benefits of meaningful use for correctional health services; obstacles to jail participation in meaningful use; correctional institutions participating in meaningful use; steps toward eligibility; impact of meaningful use on correctional health systems; and concluding observations.

"Organizations in both the health care and criminal justice fields have been using predictive analytics for a while, but predictive analytics are just beginning to be used in what may best be described as the hybrid field of health care and criminal justice. Predictive analytics are deployed in this hybrid field to anticipate the health needs of the justice-involved, and use this information to treat mental illness as well as other health problems. The underlying assumption is that these pre-emptive actions will reduce the risk of reoffending and reincarceration and thereby promote public safety. In the field of criminal justice, predictive analytics have already been shown to increase public safety through crime prevention" (p. 1). This issue paper presents three case studies showing how predictive analytics is being used by hybrid health and criminal justice systems. The case studies are: the Otsuka Digital Health (ODH) platform in Miami-Dade County used to divert the mentally ill from the local justice system; the utilization of Impact Pro by Centurion (the correctional health care provider for the states of Tennessee, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Vermont) to treat incarcerated individuals; and the web-based RNR Simulation Tool which generates evidence-based treatment recommendations for the offender.