It is difficult to watch as our beloved state suffers from the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey. Even more difficult is the number of Texans displaced as they evacuate to safe places.
This means many Texans are seeking medical care outside of their usual region or network of physicians. It helps to know that health information exchanges (HIE) are available to assist physicians by providing access to a patient’s information at the point of care.
If you are treating a Houston-area resident, there is a good chance that Greater Houston Healthconnect (GHH) has at least some clinical information on that patient
Healthcare Access San Antonio (HASA) is the regional HIE for San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and the Dallas-Fort Worth region. The two HIEs have established a special arrangement for physicians and other providers in dealing with the current hurricane crisis.
GHH and HASA, which combined have more than 8 million patients in its systems, determined a simple pathway for physicians to access patient health information for most of the Gulf Coast region and communicated that to regional disaster response officials. This is especially critical as people are quickly evacuated from hospitals and homes and need medical attention. This allows physicians and other care providers to see their new patient’s information, such as problem lists, allergies, active medications, labs, radiology reports, and even diagnostic images.
To access records from the Houston region, call 832-564-2599 (available 24/7) and GHH representatives will assist with access.
To access records from the Corpus Christi region, call 210-918-1361 (available 24/7) and HASA representatives will assist with access.
If you are treating a Medicaid patient, registered Texas Medicaid providers have free access to the online Medicaid portal, www.YourTexasBenefitsCard.com.
This portal aggregates data from disparate sources into one central hub. All of this information is collected and displayed in a consolidated health summary form with the ability to see more details.
The Medicaid portal lets you:
- View Medicaid patients’ available health information, including past Medicaid visits, health events, vaccines, prescription drugs and lab data; this information is primarily claims and encounter based;
- View Texas Health Steps Alerts;
- Verify Medicaid patient eligibility and view patient program information;
- Authorize provider-level functionality to a delegate;
- Use the Blue Button to request a Medicaid patient’s available health information in a single tool;
- Check in and check out patients at time of appointment;
- View and print the patient’s Medicaid ID card; and
- Use the YourTexasBenefitsCard portal on mobile devices — The portal adjusts to view available information from your tablet or smart phone
If you need help or have questions about YourTexasBenefitsCard, contact the help desk by calling 855-827-3747 or emailing ytb-card-support[at]dxc[dot]com.
Your TMA continues to monitor this dire situation across our state, and will pass on other pertinent information as it becomes available. Above all, stay safe!