Interoperability Solution Expected To Increase Efficiency, Outcomes
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Partnership between Tenet Healthcare and CommonWell Health Alliance “another step forward in making patient data available” independent of care setting
Tenet Healthcare Corporation has contracted services from HIT vendor-led interoperability effort, CommonWell Health Alliance, also known as the “Alliance”. The relationship will enable Tenet to access patient identification and matching, record locator, and document query and retrieval services from the Alliance.
Created to provide universal access to healthcare data, the Alliance is a trade association of health IT companies whose initial launch in December included providers from Chicago, Elkin and Henderson, NC, and Columbia, SC. Those sites are now live with the Alliance’s interoperability service offering.
“We are excited to expand the rollout of CommonWell’s interoperability services – another step forward in making patient data available for providers, regardless of where care is administered,” said Jeremy Delinsky, chairman of the board for the Alliance and chief technology officer of athenahealth.
“CommonWell remains firmly committed to advancing interoperability across healthcare; we are encouraged by the support of Tenet, as well as by the progress of all live service sites.”
The Tenet installation is expected to allow the sharing of patient health information across IT systems which will empower patients to better manage their healthcare. “Tenet is committed to advancing technology with our hospitals and healthcare networks to ensure we’re providing the right information when and where it’s needed, enabling our providers to increase the efficiency and accuracy in care delivery, and improve the quality of care in the communities we serve,” said Bo McPartland, VP of IS planning and analytics at Tenet. “We look forward to working with CommonWell in breaking down the health data silos that exist today.”
Tenet Healthcare Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, is the nation’s third largest investor-owned healthcare services company. Operating 77 hospitals in 14 states – the majority of which are in California, Florida, and Texas – Tenet hospitals include more than 13,000 licensed beds and 57,000 employees. The company’s acute care hospitals are Joint Commission-accredited and feature operating and recovery rooms, radiology services, respiratory therapy services, and clinical laboratories and pharmacies. Most offer intensive care, critical care and/or coronary care units, physical therapy, orthopedic, oncology, and outpatient services. Tertiary care services such as open-heart surgery, neonatal intensive care, and neurosciences are offered at select facilities. 183 free-standing and provider based imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and urgent care centers complement the integrated healthcare network.
Company-wide recognitions include Healthcare IT News’ “Best Hospital IT Departments” in which a significant investment in EHR is expected to be in place in all hospitals by the end of 2014.
SOURCE: PRNewswire