Written by Caitlin
After partnering with the Georgia School of Orthodontics (GSO) on a special community outreach program for Craniofacial Anomalies (CFA) last year, INvaryant started free distribution of their electronic Personal Health Record (PHR) app to over 100 Georgia families participating in the program this week. GSO’s CFA program launched the middle of last year, assembling a team of multidisciplinary pediatric specialists to provide comprehensive, ongoing treatment to Georgia children born with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other craniofacial anomalies at no cost to their families. INvaryant is donating subscriptions to their health app in order to help these families overcome the challenges of sharing volumes of medical records among large coordinated care teams made up of specialists from various practices.
Meet the GSO
Children born with craniofacial anomalies require specialized, ongoing treatment and typically see more than 20 unique healthcare professionals over the course of their lives. Within GSO’s CFA program, these children are being treated by multiple specialists ranging from pediatric dentists, surgeons, geneticists, and more. In speaking to a number of families participating in the program, all reported that having these multidisciplinary specialists work together on their children’s treatment was of enormous benefit.However, they also highlighted some remaining challenges for families coordinating ongoing treatment.
Photo of Lee Pearce
Just one parent involved in GSO’s CFA program, Lee is the tireless mother of two beautiful daughters; her youngest born with a genetic disorder that will require ongoing treatment. Because her daughter’s condition is rare, securing treatment with specialists has been difficult.
Even now that she’s working with a variety of specialists through GSO, the burden of keeping track of her daughter’s diagnoses and treatments, while planning proactively, is on Lee. Her daughter’s care team is excellent; but communication between providers can be limited, so carrying bags of health records to each appointment has been the surest way to keep up with her daughter’s ongoing treatment. “They just don’t really talk to each other,” Lee stated, summing up the issue.
While participating families have had varied experiences in pursuing treatment up to this point, many reported that cross-provider communication could be better. They also feel more comfortable being in possession of all their child’s records to ensure they get the best information and treatment possible. Across the board, participating parents do agree that GSO’s team of multidisciplinary specialists has been incredible for their children’s treatment and their own peace of mind.
How INvaryant Is Helping
INvaryant anticipates their PEHR app will make a positive impact for both participating families and specialists in a number of ways. For the first time, the entire team of care providers will have secure, on-demand access to the entire trail of medical records for each child being treated through the CFA program. This will combine medical information for any given participant, including: provider notes from consultations and procedures, test results, and diagnoses from each member of the coordinated care team into a single, comprehensive record that will securely travel with the patient throughout their life.
For participating parents, the app allows them to easily collect, organize, and bring their child’s records to every appointment through the convenience of a web app that is securely accessible via browser, smartphone, or tablet, without having to request and transport stacks of paper records. INvaryant CEO, Ramon Dempers spoke to the company’s goals for continuing to partner with GSO on the CFA program,