Greater Houston Healthconnect Takes First Step Toward Implementing Sustainable 20-County Region Health Information Exchange
Independent organization selects Medicity to provide HIE technology to connect more than 130 hospitals and 14,000 physicians to improve health outcomes for 7 million area residents
Greater Houston Healthconnect recently announced that it selected Medicity' s health information exchange (HIE) solutions to create a community-wide HIE linking more than 130 hospitals and 14,000 physicians in Southeast Texas. Medicity's technology will allow Healthconnect to bridge existing networks of major health systems, together with independent hospitals and providers, in a 20-county region to improve the quality and lower the cost of care for 7 million area residents.
"We're excited to begin working with Medicity to establish a safe, efficient, low-cost way to share medical information among providers," said Lamar Pritchard, Healthconnect board member and dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Houston. "We selected Medicity's technology due to their experience and track record of interfacing with all major EHR systems currently in use by area hospitals. Medicity has helped more than 800 hospitals achieve connectivity without disrupting existing systems. One of the biggest benefits of the technology is its ability to easily integrate with any major EHR system, which will facilitate rapid implementation in Houston and allow for sustainable growth in the future."
Healthconnect has received signed letters of interest in support of the HIE from the major providers in the Texas Medical Center. Every major health system in Houston has or plans to implement an HIE for their organization. Healthconnect will work with them to link their HIEs to each other, creating an interoperable, standards-based network of networks that adds value to the IT investments these health systems have already made. This connectivity will enable more informed, collaborative and cost-effective clinical decision-making, which will benefit providers and patients throughout the region.
Availability of a patient's health record will help providers reduce duplication of tests and procedures, enhance the physician referral and care transition process, and lower the significant cost of emergency care. While a fully-implemented HIE in the Houston region will benefit the entire community, the first phase of Healthconnect's initiative will involve connecting emergency medical services systems and participating hospital emergency departments so patient information can be readily accessible in an emergency. This initial phase is designed to address one of Houston's long-standing concerns: overcrowding and over-utilization of emergency department services.
"Emergency care is a priority for Healthconnect because of the large population of uninsured people in our area," emphasized Jim Langabeer, Healthconnect's CEO. "By seamlessly connecting to each other, facilities will be able to quickly learn if patients − both uninsured and insured − have been previously seen in another emergency department and can then provide the most appropriate care. This is an important first step toward achieving our goal of complete connectivity in our world-class healthcare community."
"As the industry moves toward greater provider accountability and outcomes-based reimbursement models, collaboration among providers is essential," said Brent Dover, Medicity president. "We are excited to work with Healthconnect in its effort to enhance quality of care and lower costs."
About Greater Houston Healthconnect
Greater Houston Healthconnect is an independent, community-based organization responsible for enabling information exchange among healthcare providers in the Greater Houston area, which encompasses a 20-county region. It is tasked with mobilizing healthcare information electronically across organizations to enhance the safety, quality, and efficiency of care and improve information access throughout the region. Key stakeholders include healthcare providers, payers, employers and the community as a whole. For more information, visit http://www.ghhconnect.org/.
About Medicity
Medicity, the industry standard for health information exchange (HIE), is the leading innovator and largest provider of HIE technology - with more than 800 hospitals and 250,000 end users in its connected ecosystem. Medicity's solutions empower hospitals, physicians and HIEs with secure access to and exchange of health information - improving the quality and efficiency of patient care locally, regionally and nationally. For more information, please visit www.medicity.com or follow us on twitter.com/Medicity.
SOURCE: Greater Houston Healthconnect