Michigan Health Connect Receives National Innovation Award

Recognized by Healthcare Informatics for Referrals Solution

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Michigan Health Connect (MHC) announced today that it received second place in the national Healthcare Informatics Annual IT Innovator Awards. The award specifically recognized MHC’s Referrals solution, which connects healthcare providers and facilities of many types – primary care, specialists, community clinics and long-term care. The free app gives providers the ability to send, receive and manage electronic referrals in their office with any other provider in the MHC network.

The award recognizes healthcare leadership teams who have effectively employed information technology to make a difference in their organizations and in the industry at large.

“The acknowledgement of our Referrals solution confirms the relevance and practical viability of our products and services in the midst of a rapidly evolving technology environment in healthcare,” said Doug Dietzman, executive director, Michigan Health Connect. “The app was designed from the ground up—from the practice perspective—incorporating real-world workflow needs of both referring and receiving providers to refine the utility of the solution. The Referrals solution in many ways is an industry first—marking a fundamental shift in the way technology is built, marketed and deployed. It was developed to solve a specific need, and incorporate feedback and the real-world experience from physician practices. This approach epitomizes software technology that adapts to how people work, rather than requiring people to adapt to the technology.”

The goal of the Referrals software is to ease the often frustrating phone and fax process of referring patients by ensuring continuity and the effective transfer of medical information as patients are referred from one provider to another.

MHC has deployed the Referrals app throughout Michigan to nearly 1,000 physicians in 278 offices, 28 counties and 206 specialties. The Referrals solution electronically connects providers across transitions-in-care, regardless of their electronic medical record (EMR) system or if they still use paper charts. In addition, it is being provided to independent community based providers at no cost. The Referrals application runs on the MHC Command Center, powered by Medicity’s iNexx solution.

About Michigan Health Connect

Michigan Health Connect is a nonprofit corporation founded to advance the delivery and coordination of patient-focused health care across the state of Michigan as well as to encourage the adoption of EMR systems in provider offices and facilitate their meaningful use.

Now composed of 51 member hospitals, MHC is the largest clinical messaging exchange in Michigan having connected over 870 provider offices and more than 4,000 providers with a combination of electronic results delivery, laboratory ordering, radiology ordering, and referrals management solutions either directly from the provider’s EMR system or MHC tools for paper-based offices. These exchange tools are available to community providers at no cost as a result of the support and investment of the participating member organizations. Medicity is the technology vendor, licensing its clinical messaging platform to each MHC member organization.

Current Charter members include Ascension Health, Beaumont Hospitals, Lakeland Health System, McLaren Health Care, Metro Health, Spectrum Health, and Trinity Health. For more information, please visit www.michiganhealthconnect.org.



CONTACT:

Michigan Health Connect
George Bosnjak, 616.588.4707
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Michigan

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Technology  Data Management  Software  Practice Management  Health  Hospitals

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