WASHINGTON D.C. December 7, 2009 - In Washington D.C. today, Orion Health joins a range of experts and healthcare leaders focused on sharing best practices for Health Information Exchanges (HIEs). Participants from the United States and New Zealand healthcare industries will discuss lessons learned in developing functional health information exchanges which provide safer and more patient-centered care.
Paul Viskovich, Orion Health President North America and EMEA, says "This discussion is part of the global knowledge-exchange necessary to strategically advance the electronic exchange of health information. By sharing our experience partnering with healthcare organizations around the world, we hope to demonstrate how barriers can be overcome and compliance can easily be managed."
The session will commence with Dr. Shane Reti, International Program Director, Clinical Informatics, Harvard University presenting his perspective as both a health administrator and a physician on how the New Zealand primary care system implemented a world-leading model for country-wide health IT.
Also participating is Dr. David Hunt, Chief Medical Officer and acting director for the Office of Health IT adoption for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr. Hunt will discuss EMR and Health IT; State of Play at HHS.
Mr. Dev Culver, Executive Director of Maine-based HealthInfoNet will present their case study with comment on the social change process, developing trusting relationships with consumers and the role of open technology from Orion Health as part of the key infrastructure of the HIE.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise sponsors this roundtable discussion titled "Breaking Down Barriers: Best Practices for Health Information Exchanges." The event is hosted by New Zealand Ambassador to the United States, Roy Ferguson. The panel discussion will be moderated by Neal Neuberger, Executive Director, Institute for E-Health.
The event will be taking place on Monday, December 7 from 5:00-8:30pm at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, D.C.
About Orion Health Inc.
Orion HealthTM is a leading global provider of clinical workflow and integration technology for the healthcare sector. Orion Health's easy-to-use solutions and applications improve patient care and clinical decision making by providing integrated health data in a single, unified view. By enhancing existing healthcare information systems, the Orion Health Rhapsody® Integration Engine, Concerto® Physician Portal, and workflow solutions provide healthcare workers with easy access to patient data and trends, and reduce errors and omissions by streamlining information transfer. 
 
Worldwide, Orion Health technologies are used in health information communities involving over 35 million patients with tens of thousands of active users including Maine's HealthInfoNet, Canada Health Infoway, Alberta Health Services and Spain's IB Salut. Orion Health's partners include leading health system integrators and IT vendors such as Accenture, Allscripts, IBM, Oracle, Phillips and others. Orion Health has more than 1,000 clients around the world, including Lahey Clinic, UCLA Medical Center, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and several of the U.K.'s NHS Trust Hospitals. More information can be found at http://www.orionhealth.com.