As a Strategic Partner in Continuous Quality Management and Program Evaluation…
IT HealthTrack provides expert data collection for representative follow-up.

• Proven average 88% completion rate;

• Data collection 9 AM to 7:30 PM,  six (6) days per week;

• Guaranteed record completion or a minimum of five (5) attempts each month;

• Call attempts are documented and varied from morning, afternoon, evening and Saturdays;

• Structured telephone introduction that produces a consistent initial response;

• Semi-structured assessment process that is consistent with scoring procedures, but customizes the interview for each patient;

Data collection is only as meaningful as it is representative. Whether attempting to collect follow-up data on 100% of individuals served or a sample of patients. The goal is to reach a sufficient number of patients in the population or design a sampling procedure that minimizes bias. In this way, facility administrators can rely on the results of data collection, interpret reports with confidence, and make meaningful changes in their programs to truly improve the quality of care.

1. Standardized Instruments
2. Facility-Designed Items
3. IT HealthTrack Quality Indicators

In addition to the variables focused on functional performance, many of these instruments include demographic data that are essential to quality management including:

1. Living Arrangements – location and who the individual lives with

2. Vocational Status

3. Performance of Personal Care

4. Post-discharge medical complications or new diagnoses

Facility Designed Items provide facility administrators and quality management personnel the opportunity to customize their follow-up. IT HealthTrack offers each facility the opportunity to add up to five additional closed-ended items to each patient’s follow-up at no additional charge.

IT HealthTrack Quality Indicators are a set of items that are of common interest to most rehabilitation administrators for the purposes of quality improvement and program evaluation. By using these items in a uniform manner, IT HealthTrack is able to aggregate the responses and provide benchmarks for comparison of outcomes.

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IT HealthTrack Quality Indicators include:

• Overall Satisfaction with the Rehabilitation Program

• Post-Discharge Hospitalizations

• Utilization of Post-Discharge Therapy Services

• Just to Name a Few

Our methodology is designed to facilitate compliance with standards developed by the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
 

The IT HealthTrack data collection process provides follow-up information on:

• Functional Performance

• Durability of Outcomes

• Satisfaction

• Impairment Assessment

• Independence with Activities

• Community Participation

• Characteristics of the Individuals' Environment

Nursing Staff

As a Strategic Partner in Continuous Quality Management and Program Evaluation…

IT HealthTrack provides expert clinical staff for reliable follow-up

Our Track Record

·         Twelve years Experience in functional assessment, administering over a half-million follow-ups – as a former owner of National FollowUp Services

·         Clinical Expertise – our registered nurses have many years of clinical practice with most continuing their nursing practice in addition to working on our team

·         Longevity - our nurses have an average of 4 years experience with our company – many have been with us for more than 8 years

·         Reliability – IT HealthTrack nurses receive specialized training in telephone functional assessment and testing for mastery of the process

·         Communication Skills -  our staff are mentored by experts in telephonic data collection to learn the specialized skills in assessing through verbal and/or vocal information and without the aid of visual information that is available through direct observation of patient functional performance

Support – IT HealthTrack staff are supported by a nursing supervisor Lynda Gieselman who has been with us since 1995 and spent four years conducting follow-up assessments before taking on her role as supervisor in 1999

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LEADERSHIP

IT HealthTrack nursing services are headed by Dr. Pamela Smith who is recognized as a leader in functional assessment. Pam was the first National Training Coordinator for the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSMR^SM) and was mentored by Dr. Carl Granger and Dr. Byron Hamilton in the formative years of the UDSMR. She developed the original Functional Independence Measure (FIM) training program for the UDSMR and traveled extensively conducting workshops in the US and Canada. Pam contributed to development of the Guide for Use of the Uniform Data Set for Medical Rehabilitation and was the primary author of the FONE FIM published by the UB Foundation.  The FONE FIM has since been integrated into the Guide and provides the algorithm for scoring each of the FIM items. Pam earned a Doctorate in Nursing Sciences from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her doctoral work focused on predictive modeling using the Uniform Data Set for Medical Rehabilitation and the FIM-Function Related Groups (FRGs). She is co-author on a number of articles and continues to collaborate on research studies in the area of functional assessment and follow-up. Pam is a member of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM). Pam is also a member of the National Association of Women Business Owner (NAWBO).

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Telecommunications

IT HealthTrack uses state of the art telecommunications that routes every telephone call through a centralized digital telephone switch. Each communication travels over digital lines for the highest clarity and security. We administer daily on-premises call detail reporting (CDR) and caller line ID technology to track and monitor all in-coming and out-going call information. Our multiple T1 lines insure that our nursing staff have ample access to the communication resources necessary to complete their job successfully.

Your patients will receive no BLOCKED calls as seen in telemarketing activities. All calls will present full caller identification to your patients.

Whether your patients use caller ID, missed call return (*69), call screening or other telephone features, they will have full disclosure of the source of the call from IT HealthTrack that includes our company name and primary telephone number.

Your patients may call our office at any time and/or refer to the consumer section of our Web Site for information about our company and to verify the purpose of our call.   

IT HealthTrack’s Vice President and Chief Information Officer, David M. Smith brings to our company over 25 years of business experience with the last 15 years focused on Information Technology and Telecommunications. He worked at Graphic Controls, a local firm in Buffalo, NY for 21 years and has functioned as Computer Network Manger. Dave worked in the medical field directing Information Systems at the Jacobs Neurological Institute at Buffalo General Hospital, designing and programming databases to track patients with Multiple Sclerosis. His has introduced technological innovations to our company that positions us advantageously in the market place.  

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Standardized Instruments

IT HealthTrack collects core data using standardized instruments with demonstrated validity, reliability, sensitivity and feasibility. Standardized instruments provide the advantage of wid-spread use, uniformity in definitions and measures and the ability to aggregate and compare outcomes.

Instruments currently are utilized for adult inpatient rehabilitation and functional outcomes;

• The Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility – Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF-PAI)

• The Functional Independence Measure (FIM)

• Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36)

• Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)

For pediatric inpatient rehabilitation and functional outcomes:

• Pediatric FIM

For Out Patient programs:

• Foto Outpatient System

For assessment of community participation:

• Craig handicap and Recording Technique (CHART)

• Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ)

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Fast-Track Advisory is a reporting system that keeps our customers notified of significant information offered by patients to our nurses during the course of the follow-up assessment. It is a method used to prioritize and communicate information from patients to the facility on the fast-track.

Many components of a quality improvement systems are aimed at studying aggregate data and evaluating trends of key indicators. This is the gold standard in quality improvement. However, another critical aspect of quality is being responsive to individual patients.

Fast-Track Advisory puts the needs and concerns of the patient and family at the center of the process.  There are three tracks for prioritizing and reporting information:

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Fast-Track Advisory is a systematic reporting method that provides facility personnel with an opportunity to evaluate individual patient information, respond when necessary, and keep informed of quality issues related to their rehabilitation programs.

6500 Main St., Suite 3 • Williamsville, NY  14221 • Phone: 716.630.0063 • Fax: 716.630.6403