Epic, Greenway systems share continuity of care documents

Electronic health record systems from Epic Systems and Greenway Medical Technologies were able to achieve interoperability with one-another for the benefit of patients at a being seen at an OB/GYN practice and a health system in Lancaster, Pa., Greenway announced this week.

Continuity of Care documents were exchanged between the two systems following a request by the OB/GYN practice, Doctors May Grant Associates--which uses a Greenway EHR--and Lancaster General Health's Women's & Babies Hospital, which uses Epic.

"We wanted caregivers to have the most accurate, up-to-date information for every patient, whether they were in the office or the hospital," May Grant Practice Administrator Mona Engle said, according to the announcement.

Engle added that the interoperability puts both the practice and the hospital in a good position for future potential government mandates.

Lack of interoperability continues to be an issue for EHR systems. In March, Greenway helped to form the CommonWell Health Alliance, a collaboration with vendors Cerner, McKesson, Allscripts and athenahealth in which the companies agreed to work together to promote data exchange standards across each other's systems.

Epic CEO Judy Faulkner has called the collaboration as "a competitive weapon," and said at a Health IT Policy Committee meeting in April that "anything that adds little value until you get to near 100 percent [participation] … doesn't work so well."

In an interview with Forbes in May, Faulkner called accusations that her company does not value interoperability "unfair."

To learn more:
- read the Greenway announcement