CHAPEL HILL, NC – A new web-based platform being developed by RENCI in partnership with The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care will allow people in the Carolinas to better manage their health and interact with loved ones and healthcare providers on planning for their future healthcare.
The Carolinas Center received a grant of $1.06 million from the Duke Endowment to support building the new system over the next three years. RENCI will receive about $500,000 from that grant to create the platform’s data management system and a framework for safely accessing and sharing data.
As envisioned, the platform will allow people to take control of their health and plan for advanced care by giving them access to a range of health-related resources, allowing them to track health and wellness indicators, and helping them spot both positive and negative health trends. It will also provide tools for advanced care planning, giving people the ability to specify what kind of care they want to receive in circumstances when they are not able speak for themselves.
The platform aims to encourage people to proactively manage their health, plan ahead for health challenges, and make informed choices for themselves and their loved ones before a situation becomes critical. A key goal of the project is to enable individuals to quickly and effectively provide important health information to caregivers and others who need it no matter where they are.
“This award will be most helpful in advancing our collective goals to align the healthcare wishes of North and South Carolinians with the healthcare they deserve,” said Carol B. Meyer, CEO of the Carolinas Center. “We further believe our many wonderful community and hospital system partners will contribute invaluably to this project. We are very grateful to the Duke Endowment for believing in us to make this vision become a reality.”
Overseeing the development team at RENCI will be Ray Idaszak, director of DevOps, with Research Data Scientist Chris Lenhardt leading the system design.
“RENCI sees this project as a first step in revolutionizing how people approach their health and health information,” said Idaszak. “The users control who gets access to their health information and they will be able to reference multiple sources of trustworthy information about health conditions and how to manage them. As a result, they should be better able to manage their own health and be prepared for the health challenges that they or their loved ones are likely to face at some point.”
The grant was awarded to The Carolinas Center late last year and the initial version of the platform is expected to be available by the end of 2017.
About the Carolinas Center
The Carolinas Center (TCC) is a nonprofit association serving an extensive network of hospices and palliative care organizations across North and South Carolina. TCC provides visionary leadership, education, technical assistance, advocacy, and resources to ensure that all people with advanced illness will have access to high quality palliative, hospice, and end of life care. For more information, visit http://cchospice.org/.
About the Duke Endowment
Based in Charlotte and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, the Duke Endowment is a private foundation that strengthens communities in North and South Carolina by nurturing children, promitiung health, educating minds, and enriching spirits. Since its founding, the Endowment has distributed more than $3 billion in grants. For more information, visit http://dukeendowment.org/.
