Three New England state Health Information Exchanges, in Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island, have teamed up to increase access to patient data and create a collaborative environment for the organizations to increase interoperability, react to more public health data, and better serve their local communities. It’s a large step forward in bringing independent organizations together in an interoperable environment that spans multiple borders.
Despite the fact that none of the three states connecting share borders, they’re in closer proximity than perhaps any other set of non-contiguous states, meaning that patient data from another state of residence is something clinicians will see more often than in other regions.
Beth Anderson, President and CEO of Vermont’s VITL HIE, summed up the patient perspective well by pointing out, “We know that health and healthcare doesn’t stop at state lines, and patients want their health data to be available at all the places they receive care.”
More than just seeing an increase in data availability, the agreement between the HIEs includes a provision to openly share expertise and also opens the door for shared services or the elimination of redundant technologies. The organizations will have increased purchasing power and be able to keep their efforts focused on their missions rather than on administrative burdens.
With our customers, having a complete picture of a patient is something everyone is striving for. While collaborations between HIEs is promising, we’re trying to make sure that all of the data flowing into organizations from non-interoperable sources makes it into a patient’s chart (the correct patient’s chart). This means the information can be used for better patient care and to expand the greater knowledge base of the healthcare industry through collaborations like these state HIEs have created.
Where we seek to eliminate redundancy is in the number of staff stuck opening pdfs or scanning paper, determining what types of documents are in their files, who needs to receive them, who the patient(s) in the files are, if they need barcode labels attached, whether there are duplicates, what data needs to be entered from each document type, change naming conventions to match the organization’s preference, whether there is an order and encounter that match or need to be created, notice whether test components may be missing, make sure the data and images are correctly present in the EMR and/or DMS, and the list goes on.
What we do is all of that. For referral packets, lab results, orders, prescriptions, invoices, truly any document your healthcare organization receives. We automate every step so you only need your staff to give the end result a quick review.
This redundant staff doesn’t need to be eliminated in the way cash expenses are, but can be reassigned to roles more suited for their skills, and your organization can have increased flexibility in dealing with staffing and document volume fluctuations.
If you’d like to see how our software turns your paper into interoperable data, please reach out and we’ll reply with an email, give you a call, or set up a personalized demonstration.
About the Author: Chris Mack
Chris is a Marketing Manager at Extract with experience in product development, data analysis, and both traditional and digital marketing. Chris received his bachelor’s degree in English from Bucknell University and has an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. A passionate marketer, Chris strives to make complex ideas more accessible to those around him in a compelling way.