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HOUSTON – Feb. 11, 2020 – The Board of Trustees of The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD approved today a significant step to move forward with the implementation of an Electronic Health Record system (EHR) that will bring improved health outcomes for those with serious mental illness in Harris County. The Harris Center is working with Harris Health System to implement a tailored to fit EHR to support the center’s complex health care operations.
Reinforcing The Harris Center's strategic plan goal of improving care through innovation, the EHR will enable better care coordination as the system will allow free flow of information between patient and provider. A mobile app for patients will empower them to more effectively take part in their treatment.
"I am extremely excited about the launching of the EHR project," said Wayne Young, Chief Executive Officer of The Harris Center. “The results of our collaboration with Harris Health represents a tremendous gain for our community as we join forces to implement a modern and useful tool to improve the lives of Harris County residents."
"Having the support and vision of Harris County Commissioners and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is an advantage that solidifies this tremendous undertaking.”
Among the key features of the EHR are predictive analytics and embedded decision support tools that support clinical practice and lead to better outcomes. With patient consent, the system also has the capability to share health information records across a vast network of providers to contribute to community coordination of care which will be a pivotal advantage given more than 250 million patients have a current electronic record in the system.
“Harris Health System and The Harris Center serve many of the same patients,” said Michael Hill, Interim Chief Operating Officer, Harris Health System. “This initiative provides us the ability to leverage a shared medical record for more seamless, coordinated care transitions. We are excited to begin this important collaboration for the ultimate benefit of our patients.”
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, formerly known as “MHMRA of Harris County”, provides the highest level of integrated mental health and intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) services to Harris County residents through four service divisions: Mental Health Outpatient Services, Mental Health Forensics, Intellectual Disability & Autism Services, and Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Programs. As the largest provider of mental health and IDD supports, we serve over 66,000 individuals each year, about 5,000 of whom are children. While we can only count the number of individuals we serve, we know our impact extends to their entire community
Harris Health System celebrates 54 years of championing better health for patients, their families and the community, connecting them to high-quality healthcare services with a focus on primary care, wellness and prevention through its network of 47 clinics, health centers, specialty locations and hospitals. Harris Health is a proud recipient of the prestigious National Committee for Quality Assurance designation for its patient-centered medical homes. Harris Health is staffed by nationally recognized physician faculty and residents from its medical school partners: Baylor College of Medicine; McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth); and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
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The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD received $836,243 from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) COVID-19 Telehealth Program to enhance its telehealth service infrastructure. The FCC received funding for this program through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. The FCC funds will enable The Harris Center to further expand access to behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities services for Harris County residents via telehealth platforms.
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, in cooperation with Harris County Probate Court 3 and the University of Houston, has received a grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for an Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program for people with serious mental illness.
HOUSTON, October 1, 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the vulnerability of individuals who are homeless and have mental illnesses. It is not only the unhealthy conditions on the streets that make the unsheltered homeless “at-risk” to COVID-19; most suffer from underlying, chronic health conditions. An estimated 15-25% of individuals experiencing homelessness throughout Harris County and the greater Houston area suffer from severe mental health issues making it difficult for city, county and local partners to quickly assist and house them out of harm’s way. Social distancing requirements have also reduced homeless shelter capacity. These extremely acute individuals have a large impact on first responders and hospitals by routinely requiring emergency intervention. These individuals increase the risk of COVID-19 exposure to first responders and the community
Madison Lamont, Miss Harris County 2020, is partnering with The Harris Center to highlight the importance of Mental Health Awareness. We met Miss Harris County earlier this year to learn more about her social initiative and share about the resources available to Harris County residents through The Harris Center.
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The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD strives to provide high quality, efficient, and cost effective services so that persons with mental disabilities may live with dignity as fully functioning, participating, and contributing members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay based on a sliding scale rate schedule. Privacy Statement Contact Us