LATHRUP VILLAGE —The Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) has been awarded a $35,000 Health Innovation Grant by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH).  

The grant is to be used to develop a texting software program to benefit the ACC’s Behavioral Health Program (BHP), a comprehensive community-based, outpatient initiative committed to the prevention and treatment of psychological and social problems. BHP will use the grant to integrate technology applications with its electronic medical records to increase compliance, through texting, with scheduled appointments and prescribed medications. 

In addition, the organization will incorporate a patient portal that will empower individuals to be more involved in their care by having access to their health information and being able to leave messages for nurses between visits.

 “Text messaging has been found to be an effective way of increasing medication compliance and participation in services,” said Carmen Sarafa, the director of ACC’s BHP.  “By having more frequent communication with a nurse, studies have shown individuals are more likely to take their medications as prescribed than those who did not.  We are hoping that this initiative will greatly improve patient care.”

The ACC is working with a software developer to create a HIPAA compliant program that will allow BHP staff to text and receive appointment reminders, as well as information related to medication compliance.