- HIT providers will use platform services to enable development of robust, industrywide longitudinal patient record.
- Platform services will solve key industry pain points.
- Cross-entity identity and consent management will help unlock data for provider analysis to improve care delivery and risk management.
ATLANTA, November 28, 2012 - RelayHealth, a leading provider of enterprise health information exchange solutions to hospitals, health systems, physicians, retail pharmacies and laboratories, as well interoperability solutions to health information technology (HIT) providers, today announced its platform services strategy. This strategy will provide HIT providers and partners an open, vendor- and payer-neutral platform for secure, scalable technology services, such as patient identity management and patient consent management to enable a true, industry-wide longitudinal patient record. The first services will help developers, including EHR developers across McKesson, earn ONC Edition 2014 Certification.
The healthcare technology landscape is complicated, with different systems used in different settings to support different care needs. While some HIT providers have been able to address a level of interoperability, most data remains locked in disparate systems and is unusable across multiple providers. The challenges are the ability to identify a single patient across multiple systems that employ differing patient identification schemes and the ability to manage consent at scale. The RelayHealth platform services strategy will address these key barriers that have historically prevented interoperability.
“To realize the vision of better health for patients, we must achieve pervasive connectivity and interoperability across a highly fragmented healthcare system,” said Jeff Felton, president, RelayHealth. “By solving the challenges associated with enabling industry-wide interoperability, platform services will help position the industry to achieve enhanced clinical and financial outcomes. RelayHealth is committed to helping HIT providers, their customers and patients realize the true promise of interoperable health information exchange: data liquidity.”
When patient data are spread across multiple systems, it is a challenge for healthcare providers to use those data without a single, harmonized patient identifier. This has slowed the industry’s ability to realize value from secure health information exchange. With RelayHealth platform services, HIT providers will be able to embed a cross-entity master patient index into their native systems. This enables patient identification across multiple systems while allowing each system to maintain its current identification methodology.
Another challenge for HIT systems attempting to share data is patient consent management. Currently cross-system patient opt-outs are often managed in manual processes that are inefficient and cumbersome. HIT providers who embed RelayHealth platform services into their systems will have a method for automatically managing opt outs across disparate systems to help ensure that data is not shared inappropriately.
Many HIT providers today exchange health information via PDF. With RelayHealth platform services, HIT providers will help their hospital and health system customers build a more robust longitudinal patient record by exchanging information in an actionable, discrete format. This will help healthcare providers improve outcomes and manage risk to thrive under new reimbursement methodologies.
McKesson systems – including Horizon Clinical®, Paragon® and McKesson Practice Choice™ – and other RelayHealth partners – already use RelayHealth for interoperability services, and will leverage RelayHealth platform services for enhanced capabilities. RelayHealth, which already provides one of the leading health information exchange systems, will encourage other HIT providers to use these services to advance interoperability throughout the industry and will allow healthcare information technology vendors of all types – both acute and ambulatory and across all settings of care – to solve key technology problems that arise from the secure exchange of healthcare information.
With its platform services strategy, RelayHealth continues to deliver on its promise of better connectivity to help providers enable better business and deliver better care – all for better health.
Any descriptions of future functionality reflect current product direction, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute a commitment to provide specific functionality. Timing and availability remain at McKesson’s discretion and are subject to change and applicable regulatory approvals.
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth, McKesson’s connectivity business, enables the secure exchange of clinical, financial and administrative information between patients, providers, payers, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and government agencies. RelayHealth processes nearly 16 billion healthcare transactions annually by integrating the delivery of high-quality care and improving the financial outcomes for its customers. For more information, call 888-743-8735, or visit our Web site at www.RelayHealth.com. Follow us on Twitter (@RelayHealth) or visit the RelayHealth Facebook page.
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