Powerful CareAlign™ technology infrastructure has ability to improve care through MidSouth eHealth Alliance (MSeHA) in Memphis and Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect (MTeHC) in Nashville with a sustainable HIE model and economies of scale
NASHVILLE & MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Informatics Corporation of America (ICA; www.icainformatics.com) announced today that it has extended its CareAlign™ system contract with MidSouth eHealth Alliance (MSeHA) based in Memphis, Tenn., to include Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect (MTeHC), a community-wide health information exchange in the Nashville, Tenn., area. Both MSeHA and MTeHC will now be able to draw upon the system’s powerful clinical informatics engine while maintaining community autonomy and the ability to choose system features that best fit providers and patients within each community.
“The ability to stretch infrastructure from community to community allows for a truly patient-centric environment by giving users a choice of specifying the information they want at the point of care based upon community goals and needs,” says Burt Waller, Chairman of the MSeHA Board and CEO of Christ Community Health Services. “This approach not only provides instant access to a patient’s medical history, but physicians will also be better able to make treatment decisions while avoiding costly and unnecessary duplicate tests, adverse drug reactions, and other issues.”
By leveraging the solution infrastructure across multiple communities, Memphis and Nashville should see a dramatic decrease in their health care costs. A landmark 2010 survey of organizations working on Health Information Exchange conducted by the eHealth Initiative found significant cost reductions for physicians, hospitals, payers, and patients. For example, 50 percent of respondents reported a reduction in cost of clerical administration time from 2009 to 2010; 30 percent saw a reduction in lab and radiology staff time; 75 percent reported a reduction in redundant tests; 78 percent realized a reduction in medical errors; and 133 percent reported a reduction in write-offs or accounts receivables for providers. In addition to greater efficiency and cost savings, this level of flexibility will create an infrastructure to fulfill provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that tie incentive payments to the meaningful use of EHRs.
Larry Kloess, Chairman of the MTeHC Board and president of HCA TriStar Health System, adds, “We believe that leveraging both the technology and the lessons learned from the MSeHA will enable us to more effectively reduce overall costs and help accelerate the implementation process. Overall, it’s a fitting solution for supporting patient care delivery, controlling costs, and transforming health care in this country.”
The CareAlign™ Engine serves as the foundational piece of the solution, facilitating the flexibility to meet changing market demands. The integration layer is able to receive standardized data (HL7, CCD, CCR, XML and others), as well as non-standard data. Discrete data is stored as individual data elements, and unstructured data is tagged with identifying indicators and stored for appropriate display, query, and reporting. Information from various participants is securely housed in individual data vaults with patient matching capabilities to display the information across settings.
It includes controlled information access with patient matching and security. Each community can then tailor the features they want from the CareAlign™ Suite, which includes:
- Provider and patient portal with secure clinical communication
- Standards-based interoperability
- EHR light functionality
- Population management, analysis, and reporting
“The CareAlign™ engine will now be available to both community Exchanges, allowing them to share a common environment and gain economies of scale within the engine,” says Gary Zegiestowsky, CEO of ICA, provider of HIE solutions to hospitals, integrated delivery networks (IDNs), communities and states.
“Having both communities on one platform is vital to establishing a sustainable HIE because 80 percent or more of health care is accessed locally. The model also allows local flexibility and delivers significant financial benefits, with cross-community infrastructure cost savings of approximately 30 percent at the initial startup and a 20 percent savings on an ongoing basis for both license and maintenance due to the economies of scale gained by using a common software platform.
“As we operationalize the MTeHC,” he adds, “the two Exchanges will not share patient data initially, allowing the Middle Tennessee community to focus on implementation within its region. Once the system is up-and-running, however, the technology will enable cross-population clinical searches. As a result, they will be able to meet their collective goals to evolve and finalize the policies and procedures that will enable population-based health care improvements and public health reporting activities across both communities. This multi-community approach jump-starts initiatives within each entity as the cross-sharing policies are worked out.”
About Informatics Corporation of America (ICA)
Informatics Corporation of America (ICA) was established to take innovative technology developed by Vanderbilt Medical Center to the broader health care market, and now delivers a comprehensive HIE solution to hospitals, IDNs, communities and states. Unmatched in its ability to yield cost efficiency, improved patient care, and better outcomes, ICA’s CareAlign™ solution captures complete data to enhance the decision-making process. The CareAlign™clinical intelligence engine empowers HIEs to leverage existing core systems and construct a longitudinal patient record. CareAlign™ also features provider/patient portals, secure clinical communication, NHIN compliant interoperability, EHR-lite and population management tools. Visit www.icainformatics.com; follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/ icainformatics; and Facebook: www.facebook.com -- Keyword: Informatics Corporation of America.
About the MidSouth eHealth Alliance
The MidSouth eHealth Alliance was established in 2004 with $12 million in combined grants from the Agency for Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the State of Tennessee. It is a community-wide health information exchange in the Memphis, Tennessee area allowing providers to share patient information from inpatient, outpatient and emergency room treatments across multiple clinical facilities, including emergency departments, inpatient facilities, and ambulatory clinics. Current participants include Baptist Memorial Hospital in Collierville, Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Baptist Memorial Hospital in Tipton, Christ Community Health Services, Memphis Managed Care/TLC, Methodist Health care-Germantown Hospital, Methodist Health care-LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center, Methodist Health care-Extended Care Hospital, Methodist Health care-North Hospital, Methodist Health care-South Hospital, Methodist Health care-University Hospital, Methodist Health care-Fayette Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital in Memphis, Saint Francis Hospital in Bartlett, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Med, Health Loop Clinics, and UT Medical Group, Inc.
About the Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect (MTeHC)
The Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect is a not-for profit regional health information exchange organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of health care delivered to every member of the community without regard to payer by connecting health care providers throughout Middle Tennessee www.mtehc.com
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CPR for Informatics Corporation of America
Rachael Fisher, 201-641-1911 x49
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