The Digital Health Center: A Centralized Approach

By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on The Digital Health Center: A Centralized Approach

Following a critical incident where delayed imaging led to advanced metastatic disease in a patient, Parkland Health conducted a subsequent analysis that revealed 17 percent of patients requiring follow-up imaging were overdue, leading to the development of the Digital Health Center (DHC). The DHC has three primary goals: provide eSupport to improve digital literacy and engagement for historically marginalized communities, implement safety net surveillance for high-risk conditions to prevent care gaps in vulnerable populations and conduct tactical outreach to engage patients with poorly controlled conditions and high socioeconomic risk.  

The DHC transforms traditional passive follow-up into systematic intervention through digital health support, telehealth services, and remote patient monitoring. Following early successes, this integration of digital health support has been incorporated into the organizational strategic plan and applied to 11 other programs. Initially, funding for the DHC came from internal organizational investment. Since the pilot, the DHC has secured a $9.8 million grant to expand.  

The DHC thrives through a multidisciplinary team of registered nurses, medical practice assistants, licensed vocational nurses, social workers, and virtual care physicians. This team maintains clinical workflows and processes, patient tracking systems, resource coordination with community organizations, and care progression pathways. An electronic health record consultant works closely with frontline staff to ensure digital health support is integrated functionally and that tools align with daily operational needs. Additionally, the DHC regularly engaged with the Patient Family Advisory Committee, which meets quarterly to discuss virtual care and digital health initiatives.  

The program has had an impact in several key areas. Clinically, emergency room utilization has been reduced by 1.5 visits per patient in hypertension outreach, and blood pressure has improved in patients from historically marginalized communities. Social workers have connected patients to critical resources, including transportation, prescription drug coverage, and housing.