EHS Achieves Integration with Northwest Missouri Regional Information Exchange

PR Log (Press Release) – May 15, 2009 – BIRMINGHAM, AL - The face of U.S. health care reimbursement is changing, and providers can expect commercial payers to follow. Utilization review and cost reduction has had little impact on the spiraling costs of health care, which now represents 16% of the GNP. The trend of incentive payments for reporting quality data will be the future for reimbursement. In order to measure quality data, electronic health record (EHR) systems must be adopted to capture discreet data at the point-of-care.

The Obama administration has pushed hard for landmark legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The intent of this law includes an immediate call to action for health care reform. Backed with monetary incentives to assist in the funding of healthcare information technology (HIT), ARRA creates a vehicle for reasonable adoption. The essence of the ARRA and HITECH is to expand EHR adoption, create standards and infrastructure for interoperability of data, and require healthcare reporting quality clinical measures for development of best practices.

EHS has long-positioned its clients to succeed in this changing healthcare delivery environment with its electronic health record (EHR). Under ARRA, EHRs are a critical area of focus. Yet, critics hold that the government is throwing a lot of money at EHR automation without appropriately addressing data interoperability. EHS understands the need for data in ongoing statewide health plan administration, and continues to demonstrate its commitment and expertise by providing its customers with real-time data through health information exchange engines.

As of March 1, 2009, EHS has successfully launched participation in the Northwest Missouri Regional Information Exchange (NWRIE). For this project, Heartland Hospital is the inpatient provider and Northwest Health is the outpatient provider. Working with these providers and Cerner, EHS created a clinical exchange of for its clients, aggregating patient demographics, associated physicians, allergies, problems, procedures, historical records of immunizations, and lab work by associated encounter, directly from the EHR.

Clinical Summary Page (Home Page)
Home Page that gives an overview (Clinical Summary) of an individual patient.  
Addressing the heart of interoperability of data between stakeholders in the Missouri health care delivery system is a unique achievement.  By providing clinicians with this data, they can monitor compliance with treatment plans (e.g., did they undergo a recommended procedure), address issues of patient safety, and educate themselves on health issues undisclosed by the patient at the point-of-care.  This is a significant achievement for the state of Missouri, Northwest Health, Heartland Hospital, NWRIE, and EHS.  

EHS will continue its commitment to interoperability and this endeavor with a well-thought-out plan and strategy to take those interested into the future.