Interoperability

Rockford Health System in Rockford, Illinois is using the Health Level 7 data exchange standard to see both the real-time fetal monitoring strip and the patient’s electronic record on the same computer screen. In the past, clinicians had a computer-based patient record in one location and a fetal monitor elsewhere. Using the HL7-based GE Healthcare Centricity Perinatal Connect technology enables Rockford to combine and save documentation from both the EHR and the perinatal systems into its Epic patient record. The most important benefit of the vendor interoperability is increased patient safety, because nurses now can view fetal strips as part of the overall medical record, said Angie Asche-Willoughby, RN, Centricity perinatal system manager at Rockford Health System. [Also: HL7 and ONC launch challenge seeking C-CDA rendering tools for clinicians] “While admitting a patient in the computer system, the fetal monitor is on the other side of the bed; but now, I can visualize the fetal strip on my screen as I am doing a patient assessment, so if a baby is having any sort of distress on their monitor, I literally see it,” Asche-Willoughby said. “But the integration also decreases my time working with technology and charting, and thus increases the time I can spend with my patient. It’s so seamless because anything you document goes into Epic." And that means nurses being able to see both the real-time fetal monitoring strip and the patient’s electronic record on the same computer screen, as opposed to having a computer-based patient record in one location and a fetal monitor elsewhere. Further, the HL7-based Connect technology enables the organization to combine and save documentation from both the EHR and the perinatal systems into the Epic patient record. The No. 1 benefit of the vendor interoperability is increased patient safety, because nurses now can view fetal strips as part of the overall medical record, said Angie Asche-Willoughby, RN, Centricity perinatal system manager at Rockford Health System. “While admitting a patient in the computer system, the fetal monitor is on the other side of the bed; but now, I can visualize the fetal strip on my screen as I am doing a patient assessment, so if a baby is having any sort of distress on their monitor, I literally see it,” Asche-Willoughby said. “But the integration also decreases my time working with technology and charting, and thus increases the time I can spend with my patient. It’s so seamless because anything you document goes into Epic.” In addition to reducing the anxiety for nurses who no longer have to worry about what is going on between two different screens, the interoperability actually can reduce the anxiety of mothers during childbirth, Asche-Willoughby said. “This set-up gives a nurse more time with her patient, so the patient isn’t thinking that all the nurse is doing is computer work,” she explained. “It provides a patient with a greater sense of comfort because a nurse is not as worried about her documentation. As a nurse, you don’t want a patient feeling like the only thing a nurse is doing is working on a computer; you want your patient to know you are taking care of her.” The GE Healthcare Centricity Perinatal Connect systems integration module uses the HL7 2.x protocol, with ORU-type message specification exchanges. It can translate between HL7 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5, back and forth. And it can work with any EHR system, GE Healthcare said. GE Healthcare and Rockford Health System declined to reveal the cost of the interoperability module. However, the vendor said a provider organization can measure return on investment through increased productivity, among other improvements. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT

Don't miss the HIMSS Awards & Recognition Gala at HIMSS16! Join us for an evening honoring the brightest stars in health IT at the vibrant Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. March 3, 2016 — 06:30PM - 09:00PM PT Wynn Hotel | Latour Ballroom Click here for more information  

Healthcare IT News and HIMSS are accepting topic and speaker proposals for the Pop Health Forum 2016, May 19-20, in Boston. While population health management is key to bending healthcare’s cost curve and improving the quality of care, achieving those goals is easier said than done. With that in mind, the Pop Health Forum’s goal is to give attendees, 250-plus healthcare providers and payers, solid information on how to improve their population health initiatives. Click here to submit a proposal and for more information. Attendees prefer case studies and are eager to learn how their peers are addressing common challenges and pain points. As such, we place a high value on proposals from payer and provider organizations that offer practical, actionable information and real-life solutions. Proposals should focus on one or more of the forum’s three key areas, the cornerstones of population health: data analytics, care coordination and patient engagement. The deadline to submit a proposal is 5 p.m., Feb. 12.

Physician adoption of electronic health records rose steadily between 2013 and 2014, with nearly 75 percent of doctors going digital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Electronic Health Records Survey. The CDC’s four key findings based on the survey: In 2014, 74.1 percent of office-based physicians had a certified electronic health record system, up from 67.5 percent in 2013. The percentage of physicians who had a certified EHR system ranged from 58.8 percent in Alaska to 88.6 percent in Minnesota. In 2014, 32.5 percent of office-based physicians with a certified EHR system were electronically sharing patient health information with external providers. The percentage of physicians with a certified EHR system electronically sharing patient health information with external providers ranged from 17.7 percent in New Jersey to 58.8 percent in North Dakota. Access the full CDC report here.

Group sends letter to lawmakers urging fixes such as strengthening telehealth reimbursement policies under Medicare.

Whether it's leading healthcare CIOs and CMIOs offering their perspectives on burning issues or highlights from HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition, 2015's most popular videos from Healthcare IT News offer our audience a glimpse of the industry's journey through unprecedented policy and technological changes.

Barely a month after its launch, the Carequality Interoperability Framework devised by The Sequoia Project has already signed up five health IT heavy-hitters to be the first to implement its data exchange principles: athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, Epic, NextGen Healthcare and Surescripts.

IHE North American Connectathon Week begins next Monday at the Cleveland Convention Center and HIMSS Innovation Center. The event runs from January 25 to 29 and will bring together more than 500 software engineers and developers for the testing event, with another 1,000 attendees for the conference and other sessions. 

Vindell Washington, MD, has been named the ONC's Principal Deputy National Coordinator, effective January 25, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Karen DeSalvo announced on Tuesday.

Minnesota Community Healthcare Network, made up of an alliance between Canvas Health, Guild Incorporated, Mental Health Resource, RESOURCE, INC. and Touchstone Mental Health, announced today it has joined with RelayHealth to establish interoperability amongst its campuses.