AdventHealth Community Connect

The AdventHealth Community Connect program will offer the extension of the Epic system for use in physician offices, providing a seamless patient experience and greater continuity of care. The program is designed to meet the needs of physician practices with specialized workflows and content for primary care and many specialties.

Community Connect will make it easy for providers to enjoy the benefits of using Epic affordably and efficiently.

What this means for providers:

  • Immediate access to a shared community record of secured patient data
  • Rapid communication among providers and patients
  • Real-time, actionable data and aggregate full data sets for population health and value-based contracts
  • Use of the AdventHealth application and patient portal
  • Reliable, secure, defined levels of system support

What this means for patients:

  • Improved clinical outcomes
  • Readily available test results and documentation
  • Reduced duplication of effort
  • Enhanced patient and family experience

The AdventHealth Community Connect program will be available to physician practices in 2023. Implementation planning with practices interested in joining the AdventHealth Community Connect program is scheduled to start in 2022.

Why Choose AdventHealth Community Connect

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the AdventHealth Community Connect program?

    AdventHealth’s Community Connect program will extend AdventHealth’s occurrence of Epic to independently owned physician practices to create a seamless patient experience and greater continuity of care. The program will also include AdventHealth’s clinical content and 3rd party applications to support practice workflow.

  • What functionality is included in Epic’s EHR and Practice Management platform?

    Community Connect is an extension of AdventHealth’s instance of Epic with the same tools, features, and clinical content. Security controls will allow non-employed providers to privatize certain information – like schedules and revenue cycle – while sharing important clinical information necessary for continuity of care. Community Connect will be offered in two forms – an EMR with a full practice management system or an EMR and a billing file export so that a practice can outsource its revenue cycle.

  • Do I have to use Epic’s Practice Management software?

    AdventHealth will offer a practice billing option, which is confidential to the individual practice. As an alternative, the practice can opt to receive a monthly billing flat-file and existing practice management system or third-party billing vendor of the practice’s choice.

  • Does Community Connect include video visits?

    Yes. Community Connect includes schedulable video visits integrated and accessible from Epic.

  • Can other providers see my schedule?

    Providers outside the practice will not have access to your schedule. However, providers caring for a patient scheduled for an appointment with you will be able to see that appointment.

  • Is AdventHealth Community Connect HIPAA compliant?

    All health records and information related to the care and treatment of any patient are privacy protected under the regulations established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA Privacy Rule) and should only be used by medical personnel involved in a patient's care. The AdventHealth Community Connect EHR system is encrypted and accessible only to authorized individuals through a secure login and password. Any use of patient records by any persons for any reason other than those directly related to a patient's continuity of care is a potential violation of HIPAA privacy regulations and therefore prosecutable as per these established legal guidelines.

  • Who owns the data?

    Technically, a patient is the owner of any personal health-related information documented by healthcare professionals during the course of treatment. Data captured during patient encounters is associated with the provider and practice providing a patient's care. Patient data is accessible only to caregivers involved in a patient's care.

  • What data will be shared?

    Clinical data (notes, orders, medications, etc.) will be shared with clinicians providing care for a patient to create a community health record, reduce duplication, and facilitate patient care. Clinical data from a Community Connect partner will not be used for research or community analytics without express permission from the practice. Revenue Cycle data (billing, claims, scheduling) will not be shared outside the practice.

  • Will I have access to patient data from other healthcare systems using Epic?

    Epic’s Care Everywhere allows, with patient consent, specific clinical information from other healthcare organizations using Epic to be accessed. This includes problems, allergies, medications, labs, diagnostic tests, and provider notes. Training on Care Everywhere is included in the overall learning plan for all Community Connect practices.

  • What is required of the practice?

    Stark and EHR Safe Harbor laws do not allow AdventHealth to provide hardware deployed within physician practices. The Community Connect program has technology requirements for practice devices. Practices will need to plan and budget for a network, VPN, desktop, and/or portable devices that are necessary for providers and their support staff to utilize the Practice Management and EMR systems. As you work with your Community Connect implementation team, you will have the opportunity to discuss the design of your practice's system. You may acquire the required devices through a distributor of your choice. If you do not have one, the Community Connect team will provide a list of resellers who can meet the device needs of the practice.

  • Who is responsible for upgrades?

    The AdventHealth Community Connect team will be responsible for executing system upgrades. Any applicable software upgrades — which regularly occur as Epic and other vendor enhancements become available — are scheduled during weekend, non-business hours. All software system upgrades are pre-tested by the AdventHealth Community Connect support team prior to implementation, and all-new functional additions to the system are communicated to practice personnel before the launch of any system upgrade.

    Upgrades to hardware, devices, and the internet will be the practice’s responsibility. The Community Connect team will provide technology requirements and recommend a refresh cadence.

  • Does the AdventHealth Community Connect team provide ongoing support and services once the application is installed?

    Absolutely. AdventHealth Community Connect offers ongoing system training, telephone support, and a dedicated practice liaison who will help your team successfully utilize the features and functions that will positively impact your practice's efficiency and effectiveness. Choosing AdventHealth Community Connect also means you receive regular software upgrades when they are introduced by Epic Systems, ongoing system maintenance, and scheduled user group process improvement training courses and support.

  • How much will this cost?

    Community Connect offers Epic at a substantially discounted rate. The cost will vary based on the size of your practice, number of locations, number of providers, and additional services and features selected. Stark mandates AdventHealth to collect a portion of the program implementation cost from the partner practice before beginning the project. AdventHealth will invest and pay the remaining portion of the implementation fees on behalf of the practice. Additional fees for custom development, additional post-go-live support, and other individual requests may occur.

  • What is included in the Community Connect program?

    The Community Connect program includes the provisioning of AdventHealth’s version of Epic Systems EHR software, associated third-party software, interfaces, and implementation and support services. Scope for each community practice will be jointly decided by AdventHealth and the practice based on currently licensed AdventHealth Epic and third-party applications, and the services provided at the practice.

  • What is included in the one-time license and implementation fee?

    The one-time fee includes Epic Practice Management and EHR license fees, integrated third-party software fees, Community Connect implementation costs, eLearning, training, and go-live support.

  • What is included in the monthly support fee?

    The monthly support fee paid to AdventHealth includes application support, maintenance, and upgrades for the Epic Practice Management and EHR. You will also have access to the AdventHealth Service Desk, updated training materials, and Epic User Forums.

  • Will my practice receive Epic training?

    Training is required before receiving system access. AdventHealth provides:

    · eLearning

    · Instructor-led training

    · A practice environment

    More details will be provided as a part of the project kickoff.

  • How much and what type of training is included?

    Training will be provided via eLearning, instructor-led classes, quick guides, a practice system (playground), and a proficiency checklist. Once the practice is ready to be activated, the Community Connect team will provide instructor-led training and be onsite to assist with go-live support. Web-based training is available on an ongoing basis for new staff orientation and for any who desire a training review.

  • Will go-live support be provided?

    Community Connect provides onsite support during implementation. More details will be provided as a part of the project kickoff.

  • How long will it take to have Epic in my practice?

    Epic will be live in each market for six months before Community Connect will be available in that market. There is a 12-week project timeline needed to prepare an office for go-live beginning from the time a contract is signed. The implementation date will be determined based on system governance and staff availability. When a practice is approved for implementation, contracts will be signed, project dates and milestones will be communicated, and teams will be deployed to begin our new partnership and create a seamless electronic health record experience.
    AdventHealth will have an implementation team that partners with you and walks you through every step of the project. Training, testing, and go-live support will be provided and required.

  • What is the term of the Epic program?

    The term of the agreement is five years and will be renewable as long as AdventHealth continues to use and host the Epic applications, your practice remains in good standing, and Stark laws continue to permit EHR subsidy.

  • If I discontinue my AdventHealth Community Connect service, how will I access the documented data related to the care of my patients?

    AdventHealth will assist the practice in making an orderly transition of the EHR items and services. AdventHealth will extract practice data to an Epic standard format, paid for by the practice.

  • How do I get outside records into the electronic chart?

    Outside results, referral letters, and limited progress notes that are not in a digital format may be scanned into the AdventHealth Community Connect system and displayed as an image for future reference.

Learn More

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