MEDecision Outlines 2007 Initiatives to Drive Adoption of Health Information Exchang
Focus on Expanding Use of Available Patient Clinical Summaries to Accelerate Benefits of Electronic Health Records
Initiatives to be Demonstrated at Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
WAYNE, Penn. - February 13, 2007 - MEDecision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDE), a provider of software, services and clinical content to healthcare payers, today outlined its 2007 initiatives to drive adoption of health information exchange between patients, payers and providers. The company will focus on expanding physician access to and utilization of available Patient Clinical Summaries to enable faster and more informed decisions at the point of care.
"The technology is in place for robust health information exchange," said MEDecision President and Chief Operating Officer John H. Capobianco. "Now we must collaborate with providers to drive adoption of the Patient Clinical Summary and capitalize on the enormous potential it affords - improved medical outcomes and lowered healthcare costs."
MEDecision believes that the most dramatic changes in healthcare will come from health information exchange, but widespread adoption will not take place until the utilization of patient health information enters the mainstream of healthcare. Software and services vendors have spent years developing the technology platforms to share patient data and create composite health summaries, but now the focus needs to shift towards getting this rich source of clinically-validated information used in patient care.
For this reason, the 2007 MEDecision initiatives address: 1) provider workflow requirements to ensure adoption and utilization of the Patient Clinical Summary by physicians and clinicians, and 2) technical requirements to ensure that patient information continues to be accessible from disparate systems, as well as expanded with new sources of data.
2007 Initiatives
Utilization of the Patient Clinical Summary by Physicians and Clinicians
The Patient Clinical Summary, a payer-based electronic health record from MEDecision, is a clinically-validated composite of an individual's health record. It is created by gathering clinical patient data from various sources, cleaning and analyzing the data, and applying evidence-based medicine to present treatment opportunities, strategies and plans for the provider and patient. By encouraging the open transfer and bi-directional flow of the Patient Clinical Summary, the newly-established Center for Collaborative Health will help each of the industry's stakeholders begin to unlock the potential of an electronic health record.
Center for Collaborative Health - a group that will address workflow process requirements to ensure that patient information is fully utilized by providers at the point of care by:
1)Defining step-by-step information exchange procedures that incorporate provider behavior and coordinate the business processes associated with patient and clinician interactions
2)Delivering training and education programs
3)Assigning dedicated resources to assist in the deployment of health information exchange
4)Instituting help desk and assistance programs
Access to an Open Technology Platform for Health Information Exchange
MEDecision is a steadfast proponent of an open technology platform for health information exchange and does not believe that a single member portal or single provider portal can effectively reach and serve the greater consumer audience. The Interoperability Competency Center aims to deliver a source of patient health information that can incorporate data from any payer repository and join it with care management data, creating valuable information that, in turn, is deployed to any member or provider portal. In doing so, the center will continually work to expand the sources of data and ensure there are no technology impediments to sharing vital perspectives at the point of care.
Interoperability Competency Center - an organization chartered with facilitating an open technology platform for the exchange of health information by:
1)Promoting interoperability standards in health information exchange that support the bi-directional flow of information between patients, payers and providers
2)Defining the technical frameworks to facilitate the exchange of information between disparate software systems and applications
3)Forging new CollaboraCare Consortium partnerships with companies committed to interoperability
Details of the Center for Collaborative Health and Interoperability Competency Center will be available and demonstrated at the 2007 Annual Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference and Exhibition at the MEDecision booth, #2731, on February 25 - March 1, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
For more information, please visit www.MEDecision.com.
Resources:
John Capobianco photo: http://www.medecision.com/John-Capobianco.jpg
Webinar: "Economic Benefits to Collaborative Data Exchange between Payers and Providers"
http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=35621&s=1&k=959E0B9C42F975FBA8F64EB3FC9621E9
Study: "An Economic Evaluation of Use of a Payer-Based Electronic Health Record within an Emergency Department"
http://event.on24.com/event/35/62/1/rt/1/images/player_docanchr_5/study.pdf
About MEDecision
Founded in 1988, MEDecision provides healthcare payer organizations with software, services and clinical content that allow them to increase administrative efficiency and improve the overall quality and affordability of their members' healthcare. A provider of Collaborative Care Management, MEDecision's technologies analyze data, automate payer workflow processes and electronically connect patients, providers and payers to give each a common view of the patient's medical history, helping to foster better clinical decision making. MEDecision believes that, in the aggregate, its customers insure or manage care for approximately one in every six people in the U.S. with health insurance. For more information, please visit www.MEDecision.com.
CONTACTS:
Tracey Kohler Costello
MEDecision
(610)540-0202
Tracey.Costello@MEDecision.com
Laura Paden
TECHMarket Communications
818) 597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com
