Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation Expands Opportunities for Women with Data Science and Technology Summer Internship Program

DALLAS – Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI), improving healthcare in our communities with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, recognizes the importance of a STEM education. Offering opportunities to women interested in data science is particularly crucial, which is the mission of PCCI’s summer internship program.

PCCI’s Women in Data Science and Technology Summer Internship, in collaboration with Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Statistics Department, is one of the most prestigious internship programs in North Texas with a mission to expand opportunities for women in an industry that significantly lacks gender diversity.

The seven women participating in PCCI’s Women in Data Science and Technology Summer Internship program include high school, college and graduate students from Dallas Independent School District high schools, SMU’s Statistics Department as well as students from the University of Texas at Dallas and Creighton University.

The program’s interns will be immersed in PCCI’s daily work where they will directly experience the organization’s innovative healthcare and social determinants of health programs. The students will also have hands-on exposure to the practical applications of analytics, computing and data science.

“The Women in Data Science and Technology Summer Internship program is a rigorous and meaningful path that demonstrates to women what to expect and how to enter the technology market,” Steve Miff, PhD, President and CEO of PCCI. “Because of the important and valuable contributions from organizations such as SMU’s Statistics Department, we are able to place women side-by-side with clinical and data science experts where they can hone their programming and analytics skills within an atmosphere of mentorship and advancement.”

PCCI celebrates diversity and inclusion with a workforce that includes 54 percent women with 30 percent of its employees representing various ethnicities and communities from around the world. As an example of PCCI’s successful commitment to diversity, the Dallas Business Journal recently named Priyanka Kharat, PCCI’s Vice President, Data Engineering and Machine Learning, as a 2019 Women in Technology honoree.

PCCI’s Women in Data Science and Technology Summer Internship program is currently underway and will conclude in mid-August with a presentation program for their PCCI mentors showcasing the impact their projects are having on the Dallas community and Parkland Health & Hospital System.

About Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) is an independent, not-for-profit, healthcare intelligence organization affiliated with Parkland Health & Hospital System. PCCI focuses on creating connected communities through data science and cutting-edge technologies like machine learning. PCCI combines extensive clinical expertise with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to enable the delivery of patient-centric precision medicine at the point of care.

 

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Parkland Health & Hospital System, Department of Corporate Communications

5200 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas TX 75235, 469-419-4400

www.parklandhospital.com

PCCI names new Chief Funding and Innovation Officer

Brings decades of healthcare strategy, innovation management to organization

DALLAS – Leslie Wainwright, PhD has been named Chief Funding and Innovation Officer for the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI).

“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Wainwright to PCCI. Leslie’s experience in working with strategy leaders, innovation executives and philanthropic organizations will be instrumental in PCCI reaching its full potential of advancing artificial intelligence and addressing social determinants of health. Leslie will be integral to the organization as it continues to expand solutions to support healthier communities and a great asset to the PCCI leadership team,” said PCCI’s President and CEO, Steve Miff, PhD.

Dr. Wainwright brings 20 years of experience in healthcare strategy and innovation management to PCCI. She comes from RTI International, a global nonprofit research institution, where she led the Innovation Advisor Health Sector Practice and worked with health systems and technology companies to accelerate the development of high-impact innovations. Through executive roles at Sg2 and AVIA, Dr. Wainwright has worked with some of the largest and most influential organizations in healthcare and has assisted leadership teams structure strategically-aligned innovation programs that are economically self-sustainable. She is a frequent national and international speaker on enabling technologies, disruptive innovation and emerging healthcare business models.

Dr. Wainwright will focus her efforts on expanding PCCI’s innovation research and development network across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and nationally. In addition, she will work with organizations and communities outside of Dallas to accelerate and broaden the impact and development of new and innovative solutions. With deep roots in Chicago and established national relationships she hopes to tap into the same philanthropic and community spirit that has benefitted PCCI and the healthcare community so greatly in Dallas. Dr. Wainwright will divide her time between PCCI’s Dallas office and Chicago.

About PCCI
PCCI is an independent, not-for-profit, healthcare intelligence organization affiliated with Parkland Health & Hospital System. PCCI focuses on creating connected communities through data science and cutting-edge technologies like machine learning. PCCI combines extensive clinical expertise with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to enable the delivery of patient-centric precision medicine at the point of care.

Contact
PCCI
Esther Olsen
214-590-4446
Esther.olsen@pccinnovation.org

Parkland RITE program targets prevention of hospital infections and improved sepsis care

Hospital-wide effort reduces infection rates, saves lives

DALLAS —Each year sepsis strikes approximately 1.7 million people in the U.S. and more than a quarter million die from the condition, making it a major cause of death. Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) contribute to about 25 percent of these deaths. According to infection prevention experts, many hospitals are trying different approaches to reduce healthcare-associated infections, improve care of patients presenting with sepsis, and save lives. In 2013, Parkland Health & Hospital System launched an innovative hospital-wide program to reduce HAI and sepsis-related deaths, called RITE (Reduce Infections Together in Everyone).

In the first five years, the multi-disciplinary program has achieved impressive results, reducing rates of infection each year since the program was launched. The net estimated impact of the RITE program is more than a thousand infections prevented and approximately $17,781,000 in cost avoidance.

“Providing quality care begins with providing safe care,” said Parkland’s Chief of Infection Prevention, Pranavi Sreeramoju, MD. “We targeted catheter-associated urinary tract infections and central line-associated blood stream infections hospital-wide, surgical site infections following eighteen different types of surgical procedures, and patients presenting with signs and symptoms of sepsis to our emergency department.”

Parkland’s prevention approach centered on standardizing care of patients at risk for these complications; engaging healthcare personnel by talking to them and exploring barriers to adoption of best practice; standardizing curriculum on how to prevent HAI and improve sepsis care; use of medical informatics tools such as early warning system for sepsis developed by Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation; use of best practice alerts and order sets in the electronic medical records; and improving workflows.

According to Dr. Sreeramoju who is also Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Parkland’s RITE initiative forged a new approach to prevention by leaning on one part medical science and two parts social science.

“It’s been said about infection prevention that we know what to do – that’s the medical science. The biggest challenge for hospitals remains getting everyone to do the right thing, all the time,” she said. “Something as basic as hand hygiene requires constant vigilance in a hospital setting. So we decided to focus on identifying the most effective ways to influence behavior and make best practices easier to adhere to.

“We took a ‘high touch’ approach to working with staff, spending time analyzing interactions among multi-disciplinary caregivers, and we gave front-line staff the opportunity to provide input that could help us improve our infection prevention strategies,” Dr. Sreeramoju explained.

The scope of the RITE initiative is massive. Parkland Memorial Hospital has more than 40,000 inpatient discharges and 244,000 emergency department visits annually. Approximately 2,500 patients present to Parkland’s ED with suspected sepsis each year.

During Sepsis Awareness Month in September, organizations like the Sepsis Alliance, one of the nation’s leading sepsis patient advocacy groups, hope to increase public and healthcare professionals’ knowledge about this dangerous and vexing health risk. In a 2016 report, the Sepsis Alliance stated that “even though hospitalizations are increasing, a majority of Americans still don’t know what sepsis is or how to treat it.” The most recent Sepsis Alliance Awareness Survey found that less than one-half of all adult Americans have ever heard of sepsis. And the number is even lower among younger adults.

To learn more about services at Parkland hospital, visit www.parklandhospital.com

Contact

Parkland Health & Hospital System
Catherine Bradley
469-419-4400 catherine.bradley@phhs.org

PCCI
Mike Crouch
214-590-3887 Michael.Crouch@PCCInnovation.org

PCCI’s Innovation Bridge Opens at Parkland’s Hatcher Station Health Center

Enabling patients to connect to digital technology to better manage their own health

Dallas, TX –The Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) in collaboration with Parkland Health & Hospital System has deployed the Innovation Bridge at the Hatcher Station Health Center. Serving residents of East Dallas, Hatcher Station is one of 12 Community Oriented Primary Care centers (COPCs) operated by Parkland throughout Dallas County. Taking inspiration from the Apple Genius Bar and Ochsner Health System’s O Bar, the Innovation Bridge is designed to bridge the technology divide for patients and caregivers.

Although there are a number of mobile apps in the marketplace that claim to help patients manage a variety of different health conditions, many are not vetted by clinicians or targeted for vulnerable patients. PCCI’s Innovation Bridge was developed by Parkland and PCCI physicians in collaboration with IT experts.

“We are very excited to launch and test the impact of this innovative concept,” said Steve Miff, PhD, President and CEO, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation. “New technology can be intimidating, so we aim to use a physical space to bridge the technology adoption gap. Linking individuals to relevant digital information is a key step towards personal activation and participation in self-management of health. We are very appreciative for the support and partnership of all our funding partners and our clinical colleagues who helped make this initiative possible.”

(Left to right) James Perez, Dr. Fred Cerise, Steve Miff, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, Paula Olson, Jessica Hernandez, Stephanie Fenniri, Gretchen Collins, and Vikas Chowdhry at the opening of the PCCI’s Innovation Bridge at Parkland’s Hatcher Station Health Center.

For those not familiar or comfortable with mobile technology available to them, the Innovation Bridge will be staffed by a bilingual Community Technology Liaison who will assist in selection and set up of the right app for each patient’s needs. The person will help guide patients to digital technologies such as MyChart that improve patient engagement, real-time access to personal clinical information, and connections to relevant community resources. An initial list of apps in the following categories has been vetted by PCCI’s team of experts: Asthma, Diabetes, Hypertension, Women’s Health (Pregnancy and Breastfeeding), Mental Health, Pediatric Milestones, Obesity Management, Fitness Tracking and Back Exercises.

“Technology continues to be an essential partner in innovative care delivery at Parkland. As the demand for our services escalates, we are focused on providing the highest possible quality of care to each patient. Innovations like mobile apps empower patients to be full partners with their physicians to assure they receive appropriate medical care and we are pleased to offer the PCCI Innovation Bridge to encourage patients to take advantage of all the resources available to them,” said Fred Cerise, MD, MPH, Parkland’s CEO.

The PCCI Innovation Bridge is located at Parkland’s Hatcher Station Clinic, 4600 Scyene Road, Dallas, 75210. For more information about Parkland, visit www.parklandhospital.com

About PCCI

PCCI is an advanced, nonprofit healthcare analytics R&D organization with a collaborative team of expert data scientists and knowledgeable healthcare professionals that go beyond analyzing a patient’s medical data to provide all-encompassing insights that are revolutionizing healthcare. PCCI is a recipient of more than $50 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland and beyond.

Contact

PCCI
Lindsey Nace, Marketing and Communications
214-590-3887 lindsey.nace@PCCInnovation.org

PCCI Announces Members of Scientific Advisory Group

PCCI’s Scientific Advisory Group Comprised of National Healthcare Thought Leaders and Experts

Dallas, TX — PCCI announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) comprised of 12 nationally known thought leaders and experts in healthcare. The SAG will provide strategic guidance for PCCI and its leadership team to identify innovative advances that address market needs. The group will meet several times per year to discuss innovation, industry trends, market dynamics and the political environment in an effort to drive the clinical innovation and economic success of PCCI and its stakeholders.

“The establishment of the PCCI Scientific Advisory Group is an exciting development in our evolution. It is essential for the achievement of our mission to develop answers to the most pressing problems of improving the healthcare status of the communities that we serve in a more cost-effective method,” said Steve Miff, PhD, President and CEO, PCCI. “The next decade will bring unique models that utilize artificial intelligence and advances in care redesign, We want to be at forefront of this transformation.”

The SAG is chaired by one of PCCI’s Executive Advisors, Valinda Rutledge, MBA, and includes:

    • Kimberly Aston, MBA, Executive Advisor, PCCI
    • Richard D. Daniels, EVP and CIO, Kaiser Permanente
    • Richard Humphrey, MBA, CPA, EVP and CFO, Parkland Health & Hospital System
    • Frederick Isasi, JD, MPH, Executive Director, Families USA
    • Keith Kosel, PhD, MHSA, MBA, VP, Strategic Enterprise Relationships, PCCI
    • Rusty Lewis, CIO and Chief Digital Officer, Southside Specialty Pharmacies
    • Rishi Manchanda, MD, MPH, President and Founder, HealthBegins
    • Thomas Maryon, DHA, VP, Clinical Program Operations, Health Care Service Corporation
    • Steve Miff, PhD, President and CEO, PCCI
    • John S. O’Shea, MD, MPA, MS, Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Center for Health Policy Studies
    • Michael A. Sachs, MSPH, Chairman, TLSG, Inc.


For more information about PCCI’s Scientific Advisory Group, please visit PCCInnovation.org/scientific-advisory-group

About PCCI
PCCI is an advanced, nonprofit healthcare analytics R&D organization with a collaborative team of expert data scientists and knowledgeable healthcare professionals that go beyond analyzing a patient’s medical data to provide all-encompassing insights that are revolutionizing healthcare. PCCI is a recipient of more than $50 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland and beyond.

Contact
PCCI
Lindsey Nace, Marketing and Communications
214-590-3887  lindsey.nace@PCCInnovation.org

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) Announces New Branding

Updated branding highlights strategic direction; expands sharing of PCCI’s research and innovation

Dallas, TX — PCCI, a nonprofit healthcare advanced analytics research and development organization, is pioneering new ways to health. Starting last year with the hiring of their President and CEO, Steve Miff, PhD, PCCI has expanded its teams. The company’s leadership team now includes Aida Kreho as Vice President of Operations, Vikas Chowdhry as Vice President of Data Strategy and Analytics, and Keith Kosel as Vice President of Enterprise Relationships. They join a growing team of leading clinicians and nationally recognized data scientists. PCCI also updated its strategic direction, and expanded their partnerships in DFW and across the country. The innovation projects resulting from these collaborations are increasingly being highlighted in prominent national publications and conferences. New branding and website designs complement and support these efforts.

“The new PCCI messaging and website are designed to make our work more personable and approachable, and to streamline our ability to collaborate and communicate,” said Steve Miff. “This process involves enhancing our ability to share the models we introduce and the knowledge we generate through our innovation and co-creation processes.”

The PCCI colors have been updated, and the logo has been completely redesigned with elements of both innovation and data, with a slight nod to the original tree. The new website (PCCInnovation.org) is centered around the people, stories, and communities that PCCI serves. PCCI’s bold journey that started with one Parkland patient, continues to aspire to develop new and innovative solutions to deliver individualized, precision health aligned with social care.

Steve Miff, PhD added, “I am excited to not only continue our great progress, but aim to expand our impact to ‘pioneer new ways to health.’ We have a unique opportunity to leverage our expert data scientists and knowledgeable healthcare professionals. Leveraging our partnerships enables us to create connected communities that align resources and drive precision, personalized interventions, and engage individuals in their own health.”

PCCI’s mission to reimagine and expand the knowledge base of healthcare through prescriptive analytics and artificial intelligence, remains the focus. The new branding and website further facilitates the company’s capacity to share their data science, artificial intelligence and predictive model expertise, and bring resources to their partners and the communities they serve.

About PCCI
PCCI is an advanced, nonprofit healthcare analytics R&D organization with a collaborative team of expert data scientists and knowledgeable healthcare professionals that go beyond analyzing a patient’s medical data to provide all-encompassing insights that are revolutionizing healthcare. PCCI is a recipient of more than $50 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland and beyond.

Contact
Lindsey Nace, Marketing and Communications
214-590-3887
lindsey.nace@PCCInnovation.org

PCCI Announces New Board Member

Driving Innovation in Data Science and Community Health, Richard D. Daniels, EVP and CIO for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Joins PCCI’s Board

Dallas, TX — Richard D. Daniels has been appointed to the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) Board of Directors. Daniels is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.

“We are very honored and fortunate to have Mr. Daniels join the PCCI board. His extensive leadership experience at Kaiser Permanente and across financial sectors will help guide our future innovations in AI and personalized care in areas that are truly pioneering new ways to health for individuals,” said Steve Miff, President and CEO, PCCI.

In his current role Daniels is responsible for the ongoing leadership of Kaiser Permanente’s Information Technology vision, strategy and execution. He is a member of the national executive team. Prior to his appointment as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Daniels served as senior vice president of Enterprise Shared Services, which includes End User Services, National Facilities Services and National Pharmacy Operations. Daniels joined Kaiser Permanente in May of 2008 as the organization’s Information Technology Senior Vice President and Business Information Officer of Health Plan and Hospital Operations.

“I am truly honored to join the PCCI board,” said Daniels. “PCCI is committed to innovative thinking and to the extremely important work of improving healthcare for the greater benefit of society. I look forward to working with PCCI on some of the major transformational opportunities in healthcare.”

Daniels joins PCCI’s Board of Directors which includes:
Fred Cerise, MD, MPH, President and CEO, Parkland Health & Hospital System
Steve Miff, PhD, President and CEO, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Winfred Parnell, MD, Chair, Parkland Health & Hospital System Board of Managers
Ted Shaw, President and CEO, Texas Hospital Association
Robert L. (Bob) Smith, Healthcare Consultant
Michael Sachs, Chairman of TLSG, Inc.

Ted Shaw, Chairman of the PCCI Board added, “I am thrilled that Richard will be joining our PCCI Board. His intelligence and deep experience will help guide PCCI into the swirling waters of population health and bringing medical communities together to improve the health of millions.”

About PCCI

PCCI is an advanced, nonprofit healthcare analytics R&D organization with a collaborative team of expert data scientists and knowledgeable healthcare professionals that go beyond analyzing a patient’s medical data to provide all-encompassing insights that are revolutionizing healthcare. PCCI is a recipient of more than $50 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland and beyond.

Contact

PCCI

Lindsey Nace, Marketing and Communications

214-590-3887 lindsey.nace@PCCInnovation.org

Dr. Steve Miff Awarded Social Innovator of the Year

Dr. Steve Miff Awarded Social Innovator of the Year

The Community Council of Dallas’ Annual Nonprofit and Community Leadership Awards Luncheon Will Honor Local Nonprofit Organizations and Leaders

Dallas, TX – The Community Council of Dallas, has awarded Dr. Steve Miff, the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation’s (PCCI) President and CEO, with the 2017 Social Innovator of the Year Award. This year’s luncheon will be held on Thursday, November 2.

Ken Goodgames, CEO, Community Council of Dallas said, “Steve has a considerable gift to combine innovative technology approaches with a deep understanding of the social and health challenges we face in Dallas to identify solutions and resolve ongoing community challenges. I consider it a privilege to collaborate with him and his team. His work is game changing!”

Since it’s founding in 1940, the Community Council has identified services that are needed in the community, assessed how services could best be delivered to meet social issues, and mobilized and implemented action plans working in concert with its public sector resources. PCCI’s focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and cognitive computing to create connected communities complements the Community Council’s mission and vision for the community.

“I’m both honored and humbled by this great award and recognition.  It is truly a reflection of the work of the entire PCCI team, and the result of the collaboration with our colleagues at Parkland and across the Dallas community.” added Steve Miff. 

PCCI’s work is improving the health and lives of over 500,000 individuals at Parkland and across the Dallas community.  The Information Exchange Portal (IEP) is one of PCCI’s innovative programs focusing on addressing the health and social needs of a community. The program connects healthcare providers and community based organizations to coordinate the communication and care for individuals. With patients’ consent, providers use the portal to share relevant medical and social information with homeless shelters, food banks, and other nonprofits.


About PCCI


PCCI is an advanced, not-for-profit healthcare analytics R&D organization with a mission to create a world of connected communities where every health outcome is positive. We combine deep clinical expertise with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to enable the delivery of precision medicine at the point of care. PCCI is a recipient of more than $50 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland Health & Hospital System, and beyond.

Contact
PCCI
Lindsey Nace, Marketing and Communications
214-590-3887
lindsey.nace@pccipieces.org

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) Announces New Board Member

Building its strong Board to drive innovation in healthcare, PCCI appoints Michael Sachs, Chairman of TLSG, Inc.

Dallas, TX — Michael Sachs has been appointed to the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) Board of Directors. Sachs is Chairman of TLSG, Inc, an investment advisory and consulting firm.

“I am very excited and honored that Michael is joining the PCCI Board. He is a top healthcare executive and visionary, and has been a personal mentor and role model for the last 15 years,” said Steve Miff, PhD, PCCI’s President and CEO. “His passion for transforming healthcare and his insights and guidance will help us expand PCCI’s innovation and impact.”

Sachs has spent his entire career in healthcare with a focus on developing data and information companies. He is working with startups and early stage companies in the healthcare, biomedical and data science fields. He began his career as a paramedic, served as an administrator at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, and was a consultant at A.T. Kearney and Ernst and Whinney in Chicago.

Sachs earned a Master of Science in Public Health and a Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He is active with a number of community organizations including hospitals in Jupiter, Florida, Los Angeles and Chicago. He serves on numerous Boards of Directors of private companies as well as the Board of Directors of The Ounce of Prevention in Chicago.

“I am honored to be able to support PCCI’s mission of improving the delivery of healthcare services to a diverse population through applying innovative techniques of data analysis and precision medicine, “ Sachs said. “The track record of PCCI’s innovations are leading to better delivery of services in Dallas and beyond, a true learning lab for US healthcare. The team led by Dr. Miff is exceptional and recognized by its peers to be one of the best in the nation. I look forward to helping to grow PCCI’s valuable work.”

Sachs joins PCCI’s Board of Directors which includes:

Fred Cerise, MD, President and CEO, Parkland Health & Hospital Systems

Steve Miff, PhD, President and CEO, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation

Winfred Parnell, MD, an OBGYN and Chair of the Board of Managers at Parkland

Ted Shaw, President and CEO, Texas Hospital Association

Bob Smith, Healthcare Consultant

Ted Shaw, Chairman of the PCCI Board added, “Michael will be a great addition to the PCCI Board. His experience in data analytics and decades of experience serving the healthcare community will be of great value.”

About PCCI

PCCI is an independent, not-for-profit healthcare intelligence organization focused on creating connected communities through data science and machine learning. Our teams combine deep clinical expertise with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to enable the delivery of precision medicine at the point of care. PCCI is a recipient of more than $45 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland and beyond.

Contact

PCCI

Lindsey Nace, Marketing and Communications

214-590-3887

lindsey.nace@pccipieces.org

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation to serve as local ‘hub’

April 12, 2017

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation to serve as local ‘hub’

One of 32 participants nationwide to link clinical, community services

DALLAS – The Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) has been named a recipient of the CMS Accountable Health Communities (AHC) grant by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Assistance and Alignment Tracks of the Accountable Health Communities Model will begin on May 1, with a five-year performance period.

PCCI is one of 32 participating sites in 23 states. UT Health Science Center Houston and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa are the only other Texas sites that will conduct and test interventions.

“We are poised to utilize the innovative and transformational capabilities of PCCI in an effort to reduce health disparities in the North Texas region and across the nation,” said Ted Shaw, chair of the PCCI Board of Directors. “PCCI is dedicated to designing solutions that bring together clinical care, public health and community services in a coherent strategy to meet the community’s healthcare needs.”

The grant was designed to specifically address the largest cost drivers that extend beyond the scope of healthcare alone including unmet health-related social needs such as food insecurity and inadequate or unstable housing which may increase the risk of developing chronic conditions, reduce an individuals’ ability to manage these conditions and lead to avoidable healthcare utilization.

“We are very proud that CMS has entrusted PCCI with an Accountable Health Communities Model Grant. This award recognizes the great work PCCI and the Pieces Technologies, Inc. teams have done over the last few years and is a great opportunity for PCCI, Parkland and the Dallas community to expand our mission of creating a world of connected communities where every health outcome is positive,” said Steve Miff, PhD, president and CEO of PCCI.

“We are thankful to our Dallas AHC grant partners, Parkland Health & Hospital System leadership and board, the W.W. Caruth, Jr. and Lyda Hill Foundations for their ongoing partnership, and for the letters of support from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, the Dallas County Health Department, and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins,” Dr. Miff added. “We look forward to getting started and partnering with CMS and other leading organizations across the country to improve the health of every community.”

The AHC model was established to test innovative service delivery models and seeks specifically to test whether uniform screening of Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries at risk for emergency department visits will reduce expenditures and enhance quality of care.

CMS launched the project by announcing the participants for two of the three tracks, the Assistance and Alignment Tracks. PCCI had been awarded the Alignment Track, the most intensive level which includes screening, education, referral, navigation and alignment of community resources to ensure responsiveness to high risk beneficiaries needs.

PCCI will be partnering with five healthcare providers in the Metroplex (Parkland, Methodist, Children’s, Baylor, Dallas Metrocare), 289 community based organizations and Texas Medicaid to design, implement and evalute this model.

To view a list of the assistance and Alignment Tracks bridge organizations in the Accountable Health Communities Model, please visit: https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/ahcm.

About PCCI:

PCCI is an independent, not-for-profit healthcare intelligence organization focused on creating connected communities through data science and machine learning. It combines deep clinical expertise with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to enable the delivery of precision medicine at the point of care. PCCI is a recipient of more than $45 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland Health & Hospital System and beyond.

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Contact:

Lindsey Nace
214-590-3887
lindsey.nace@pccipieces.org