Through the Empowering Health Care Consumers priority area, NYHealth promotes greater information transparency and supports patients in engaging as partners in their care. Through their upcoming Primary Care priority area, beginning in 2023, NYHealth will increase primary care access and capacity, build the primary care workforce, and advance racial health equity. The intersection between Empowering Health Care Consumers and Primary Care provides the framework for this Request for Proposals (RFP).

This RFP is open to any non-hospital system in New York State that is implementing and sharing open notes in compliance with recent federal rules and is seeking to go beyond compliance and use open notes to spark a culture change and more meaningfully engage patients. 

Through this RFP, NYHealth—in partnership with the OpenNotes national program office—will provide non-hospital systems throughout the State with funding, technical assistance, and opportunities for peer learning to implement and share open notes effectively. The goal is not merely to support providers in complying with the recent federal mandate to share notes with patients, but also to equip them with the tools to help patients access and use these notes for more informed and engaged care. 

Selected applicants will be required to engage a project team of 3–4 members. Potential team roles to consider include: patient experience/engagement leaders; clinical leaders; electronic health record (EHR) implementation or IT leaders; staff and patient educators; and patients and/or patient advisors. NYHealth strongly encourages organizations to include at least one patient partner and/or advisor on their teams.

Applicants selected for funding will also be required to participate in a 12-month technical assistance and learning network led by the OpenNotes national program office. This program will allow nonhospital systems to learn from experts and each other, and it will focus on strategies to ensure that (1) providers are equipped with the tools to make note-sharing easy and useful; and (2) patients know how to access and use their visit notes productively. Diverse experts will lead monthly technical assistance sessions.

Topics covered will include, but not be limited to:

• Understanding the recent federal mandate, including the regulation’s intersection with federal and State laws on patient privacy and confidentiality.
• Addressing issues with EHR and patient portal functionality.
• Communicating with providers and staff about open notes, addressing clinician concerns, and identifying staff champions.
• Using multidisciplinary care teams to integrate open notes into workflows.
• Supporting patients in accessing and reviewing their notes through marketing, navigation, and other engagement activities.
• Educating patients and caregivers on how to use notes to manage care.
• Providing notes in plain language, language that reduces bias, and languages other than English.
• Sharing notes in the context of adolescent, pediatric, and behavioral health care.

In addition to monthly technical assistance sessions, project teams will also have access to individualized coaching sessions with experts from the OpenNotes national program office. 

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)