HIE, Advanced EMR System Make Coordinated Care A Snap
By Karla Paris
Appropriately accessing and securely sharing a patient’s vital medical information electronically is a priority for the Boulder Medical Center.
Boulder Medical Center doctors are now receiving laboratory results from hospitals and labs around the state without having to wait for faxes or other paper-based methods of communication. This is reducing patient wait times, helping doctors make faster and more accurate clinical decisions, and saving staff time previously spent tracking down patients' medical records.
These benefits are direct results of the more than 70 providers at the Boulder Medical Center who are now using CORHIO health information exchange (HIE), in addition to an advanced electronic medical record system.
All three office locations of Boulder Medical Center have connected with the HIE, facilitated by CORHIO, including two locations in Boulder and a third in Louisville on the Avista Adventist Hospital campus. The busy doctors see many students, Boulder and Louisville residents, travelers, and others from around the state, so having access to accurate medical information is essential for patient care coordination.
“With Boulder Medical Center joining the CORHIO network, approximately half of practicing physicians in Boulder County are now participating in HIE,” said Morgan Honea, executive director of the CORHIO. “All four hospitals in the area are also participating. This makes Boulder County one of the most technologically advanced communities in the entire country when it comes to health care information systems.”
Boulder Medical Center has been providing quality medical care for Boulder County and its surrounding areas since 1949. The Center is a multispecialty group that operates an urgent care clinic, which coordinates care for more than 200,000 annual patient visits. Currently, there are 65 physicians associated with the Boulder Medical Center and 300 full-time and part-time employees among three separate locations.
CORHIO is dedicated to improving health care quality for all Coloradans through health information technology and HIE. As the state-designated entity for HIE, CORHIO collaborates with all health care stakeholders including physicians, hospitals, clinics, public health, long-term care, laboratories, health plans, patients, and the Quality Health Network to improve care collaboration through secure systems and processes for sharing clinical information. CORHIO is a not-for-profit supported in part by grants, including awards from the Colorado Health Foundation and from federal ARRA HITECH funds.
SOURCE: CORHIO