The National Health IT (NHIT) Collaborative for the Underserved at its 15th Anniversary Reception and Health Equity and Inclusiveness Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., recognized Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.
On Wednesday, Sept. 20, a ceremony marked the inaugural presentation of the NHIT Health Equity and Inclusiveness Award. (NHIT) Collaborative for the Underserved at its 15th Anniversary Reception and Health Equity and Inclusiveness Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., recognized Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.
Wednesday’s ceremony marked the inaugural presentation of the NHIT Health Equity and Inclusiveness Award. The award recognizes nine honorees for excellence in the public, private and nonprofit sectors for efforts to advance initiatives like broadband access, telehealth and precision medicine to help underserved communities access better healthcare.
The governor was recognized for excellence in the public sector for the Bryan-Roach Administration’s leadership and support to modernize the USVI healthcare ecosystem, utilizing technology to ensure equitable access to healthcare, improve health outcomes and reduce the need for off-island care and the burdens that come along with that.
The CEO of NHIT, Luis Belen, has worked with the territory for years, witnessing firsthand, the advances made under Gov. Bryan’s leadership to build a truly integrated healthcare delivery system through accomplishments like the development of a government-wide Health IT Strategic Plan, the launch of the Health Information Exchange pilot with Crisp Shared Services, and the implementation of patient tracking systems in emergencies like Joint Patient Assessment and Tracking System (JPATS) and the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE).
“The storms in 2017 highlighted the importance of information technology in healthcare and the dire need for its implementation in our territory’s healthcare system,” Bryan said. “The urgency from my administration to embrace technology in healthcare revolves around our need to capture and use data to inform and improve our decision making and to decrease the burden of care coordination to our providers, patient and their families.”
National Health IT was founded by the Office of Minority Health and the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, with a commitment to including underserved populations in health information technologies.
