CareAlign™ technology infrastructure to help Kansas Health Information Network achieve broad geographical user base, support cost-effective delivery of services and improve local health outcomes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. & TOPEKA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Informatics Corporation of America (ICA; www.icainformatics.com) announced today that it has executed a contract to provide health information exchange services with the Kansas Health Information Network (KHIN) based in Topeka, KS. The KHIN members include the Kansas Medical Society, the Kansas Hospital Association, and the two health information exchange organizations representing the large urban areas of Kansas, eHealthAlign in Kansas City and the Wichita Health Information Exchange (WHIE). KHIN, in conjunction with its partners, will provide health information exchange services using the CareAlign™ solution to the entire state of Kansas and portions of western Missouri. This will allow health care providers to align with state-designated mandates to ensure that patients, providers and communities have long-term access to cost-effective and sustainable health information exchange services. KHIN will draw upon CareAlign’s powerful clinical informatics engine to improve patient care coordination and quality while ensuring patient privacy.
Jon Rosell Ph.D., Executive Director of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County in Wichita, KS noted, “The CareAlign™ technology enables KHIN to accomplish its key goals of improving quality of care while protecting privacy, sharing costs among all stakeholders, minimizing barriers to provider participation, extending health information exchange into rural and underserved areas of Kansas and western Missouri, achieving greater efficiencies of scale and capitalizing on the unique strengths of local communities. bsp; The ICA solution provides instant access to a patient’s medical history, enabling physicians to make better treatment decisions while avoiding costly and unnecessary duplicate tests, adverse drug reactions, and a host of other issues.”
Jason Mitchell, M.D., chairman of the eHealthAlign Board of Directors, says, “By leveraging the CareAlign™ solution infrastructure across a broad geographic area it will enable health care providers to deliver care more efficiently while improving quality. Creation of the KHIN consortium presents unique opportunities to the caregivers throughout Kansas and western Missouri to achieve the benefits of CareAlign™ in a more efficient manner versus individual initiatives that were originally anticipated.”
Laura McCrary Ed.D, executive director of the Kansas Health Information Network, adds, “Without the cooperation and vision of the health care leaders in Kansas City who developed eHealthAlign, this unique opportunity would not have been possible.”
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 are possible. 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.
The CareAlign™ engine serves as the foundational piece of the solution, facilitating the flexibility to meet changing market demands. The system can 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 clinical 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
- Patient health record
Gary Zegiestowsky, CEO of ICA, explains, “Having all 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.”
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 healthcare 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; and Facebook: www.facebook.com.
About The Kansas Health Information Network (KHIN)
KHIN’s mission is to operate and maintain a health information exchange technology services organization. It draws users from a broad geographical area that encompasses a multi-state region and aligns with state designated health information exchanges to support cost effective delivery of services. It supports and integrates with community health information exchanges to drive care coordination and workflow changes creating a climate to encourage innovation. Its goals are to ensure providers, patients and communities have long-term access to cost effective, sustainable health information exchange aligned with costs distributed across a broad user base. It also encourages and removes barriers so community exchanges can focus on innovation and entrepreneurial strategies that effect local health outcomes.
CONTACT:
CPR for Informatics Corporation of America
Katelyn Petersen, 201-641-1911 x18
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America Kansas Tennessee
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Data Management Software Health Hospitals General Health
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