Health Information Exchange (HIE)

Much of the high cost of healthcare stems from an information technology environment that is fragmented, inconsistent and rarely automated. More than $36 billion has been allocated by Congress to address this in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a part of the federal economic stimulus package. Health Information Exchanges (HIE), regional collaborations for sharing vital patient information, play a big role in this effort. Future entities including Accountable Healthcare Organizations (AHO) that are enabled under government legislation will also benefit from the ability to coordinate such data exchanges.

For networks involved in coordinated care considering forming an HIE, CERECONS offers a technology framework or the tools and knowhow to design and build the necessary infrastructure. By leveraging existing information from participating organizations, the CERECONS HIE solution offers a more successful strategy for implementation. Systems are designed to improve patient care by linking disparate data sources via proven matching engines.

Combining web services and other integration engine components, CERECONS portals and tools can display a patient’s medical record on a single dashboard. Additional information can be accessed from multiple sources across the connected network. The communication backbone for the system is the internet, robust and still value priced. With a Master Patient Index (MPI) to validate existing identifiers from providers, a patient's longitudinally complete care record can be made available to qualified members of the care team. Systems are designed to be easy to use and yet accommodate a wide variety of needs.

The kinds of data involved is virtually unlimited and includes clinical information; such as test results, medications, diagnostic reports, and popular EMR systems as well as financial, including claims, insurance and estimates of benefits. This offers the opportunity for better coordination of care, for expensive tests to be performed only once, and overall administrative cost to be reduced.

In compliance with HIPAA and other privacy standards, protecting the patient’s right to privacy is an important issue. This sensitive and confidential information is safely and properly secured with CERECONS. Robust security technologies prevent data sharing outside of explicit provider relationships. CERECONS portals are designed for ease of use without complex training or expensive technology investments. We have extensive experience designing workflows, implementing systems, and training the staffs of many kinds of organizations, from multi-specialty clinics to networks of independent and widely separated providers.

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