East Tennessee Health Information Network Selects OptumInsight Health Information Exchange Technology To Support Better Patient Care Coordination
- Secure clinical network facilitates easy access to patient information to support medical decision-making
- Axolotl HIE solution enhances connectivity, collaboration among care providers across Tennessee
The East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN) has selected OptumInsight's health information exchange (HIE) technology to help physicians, hospitals and other health care providers in the region improve patient care coordination and quality.
"Our vision is to securely connect hospitals, physicians and other health care providers with each other and to critical health information at the point of care to enable significant improvements in patient safety, health outcomes and opportunities for practice efficiencies. We feel confident that OptumInsight is the best partner to help us accomplish this," said Leigh Sterling, etHIN executive director.
etHIN is a collaborative group composed of eastern Tennessee's major health systems. The network will use the Axolotl HIE platform from OptumInsight to create a secure clinical network that connects participating physicians, hospitals, laboratory services providers and pharmacies in the region. This will enable medical professionals to access and share critical health information, including electronic medical records, to support faster, more effective clinical decision-making and coordination with other care providers.
Further, through the Axolotl HIE platform, participating physicians and hospitals will easily be able to connect to the state Health Information Partnership for Tennessee Network to coordinate patient care and access clinical data from Immunization Services, Public Health Reporting, Lab Reporting Services and other qualified organizations across the state.
"Since before etHIN was formalized in 2003, providers in our region have been working together to enable the exchange of health information to improve health care outcomes and reduce costs for our community. Our selection of OptumInsight's Axolotl HIE solution came after an in-depth evaluation and emerged as the solution that met our criteria and fit into our vision of a robust Health Information Exchange," stated Mike Ward, president of the East Tennessee Health Information Network.
"HIE technology from OptumInsight provides a secure bridge between medical professionals, improving access to information and facilitating communication between caregivers. This initiative will help reduce duplicate testing, provide safer transitions of care and reduce administrative costs," said Glenn Keet, president of Axolotl at OptumInsight.
The Axolotl HIE platform
An HIE network connects all of the participating care providers and their patient record systems within its defined medical community – a hospital, independent delivery network (IDN), region or state. Once connected, patient-authorized participants can instantly receive and exchange their patient's clinical results as well as access a complete and up-to-date medical record at the point of care. This supports clinical decisions and efforts to improve quality of care and patient safety.
The Axolotl HIE platform from OptumInsight connects hundreds of thousands of health professionals across nine statewide exchanges and 25 regional health information organizations, as well as beacon communities, accountable care organizations and independent delivery networks. For more information, visit www.axolotl.com.
About The East Tennessee Health Information Network
The East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN) is regional health initiative based in Knoxville, Tenn., comprised of major hospitals and health systems in the region, including Covenant Health, University of Tennessee Health System, Tennova Healthcare, Blount Memorial Hospital, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, and Summit Medical Group. Since its inception in late 2003, etHIN has a mission to improve patient care, safety, and quality as well as lowering the cost of healthcare delivery. As a community driven project, the network will ultimately serve the needs of health consumers in a 17 county region in East Tennessee.
About OptumInsight
OptumInsight provides health information, technology and consulting services. Commercial health plans, physicians, hospitals, life sciences companies, government agencies and other organizations that comprise the health care system depend on OptumInsight solutions and insights to improve their performance. OptumInsight is part of Optum, a leading information and technology-enabled health services company dedicated to making the health system work better for everyone. For more information, visit www.optum.com or www.optuminsight.com.
SOURCE: OptumInsight