Rush Health www.rush-health.com an integrated health network has adopted InterSystem’s http://interSystems.com HealthShare® interoperability platform to help coordinate care. Rush Health serving greater Chicago includes four hospitals, more than 1,100 physician members, and 350 non-physician network clinicians.
The HealthShare interoperability platform will enable Rush Health to implement a private Health Information Exchange (HIE) to provide their hospital, physicians, and affiliate members a complete view of their patients’ records across the care continuum from the EHRs. The system will connect primary and specialty, sub-acute and hospital-based providers, as well as other HIEs regardless of the EHR system.
In another effort to achieve interoperability, the Sequoia Project http://sequoiaproject.org in place to implement an interoperable nationwide HIE. Sequoia supports Carequality, a public-private collaboration among health IT data exchange programs is developing a common interoperable framework.
The CommonWell Health Alliance www.commonwellalliance.org is working to enable secure and reliable interoperability along with Carequality http://sequoiaproject.org/carequality leaders to connect their networks. Under the agreement, CommonWell will become a Carequality implementer on behalf of its members and their clients.
This will make it possible for CommonWell subscribers to engage in data exchange through directed queries with any Carequality participant. Carequality will work with CommonWell to make a Carequality compliant version of the Common Well record locator service available to any provider organization participating in Carequality.
Also, eHealth Technologies www.eHealthTechnologies.com in New York State, a provider of image-enabled HIE solutions and the Rochester RHIO, a regional HIE serving 13 counties in western New York State, continue to make progress towards image data interoperability.
The Rochester RHIO has expanded their services with the implementation of eHealth Connect® Image Exchange Transfer-to-PACS. This enables radiology and cardiology imaging departments to access a list of all external imaging studies for their patients from the Rochester RHIO.
The system automatically updates the imaging study with the correct local patient medical record number allowing the imaging study to become part of the patient’s record. As a result, radiologists and clinicians are now able to easily access both current and prior images from within their work environment to enhance the speed and quality of patient care at a lower cost.