Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel announced a $12,839,157 grant for the Bronx Regional Health Information Organization to create data registries and predictive systems to encourage early care interventions to better manage high-risk, high-cost patients.

Rep. Engel said, “This $12.8 million program is expected to save $15.4 million over the next three years by proactively encouraging earlier care for patients before their illnesses became graver and more life-threatening. It is obvious, treating a patient before an illness becomes more serious has better outcomes both for the patient and for the cost of treatment.”

RHIO will work with its member organizations and Bronx Community College, Weill Cornell Medical College, and the Emergency Health Information Technology group at Montefiore Medical Center in establishing the Bronx Regional Informatics Center. This Center will develop data registries and predictive systems that will proactively encourage early care interventions and enable providers to better manage care for high-risk, high-cost patients.

Rep. Engel added, “The project will improve patient outcomes, improve the overall health of Bronx residents, reduce the cost of care for Medicare and Medicaid by over $15 million, and train health care workers to coordinate these quality improvement efforts. This award was made available under the Affordable Car Act, another example of how the Act improves health care and makes it more available.”

Over a three-year period, the Bronx RHIO will create an estimated 30 jobs, including positions for intervention team members and community health advocates.

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