Two very interesting and exciting examples of Health Information Technology Portals came to my attention this week. I found both very interesting and encouraging.
The first I came upon as a result of this press release announcing a portal to support a Health Information Exchange (HIE).
Park Ridge Hospital “Go Live” Completes Phase I of Western North Carolina HIE Powered by MEDSEEK Physician Portal
HIE Will Connect Ambulatory EMRs to MEDSEEK’s Enterprise Portal During Phase II
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDSEEK, a leading provider of enterprise portal connectivity solutions, today announced that Western North Carolina Health Information Exchange (HIE) implemented MEDSEEK’s physician portal at Park Ridge Hospital. This “go live” completes the first phase of its e-health initiative by enabling all 16 participating facilities to exchange patient data electronically. During phase II, MEDSEEK’s physician portal will connect physician office EMRs to the HIE network.
“With the completion of Phase I, we plan to pilot data exchange between community physicians and inpatient facilities this fall, which will further advance clinical decision-making and patient care across our region,” said Gary Bowers, Executive Director of the Western North Carolina Health Network. “MEDSEEK excelled when faced with the challenge of connecting five different information systems across 16 hospitals to deliver the right data from the right systems in real-time. The MEDSEEK physician portal allows our doctors to pull up a new patient’s history, recent medications, lab results, emergency contact and primary care physician within seconds. The portal has generated significant overall productivity gains by streamlining clinical workflow, eliminating repeat tests and reducing the potential for medical errors.”
The WNC Data Link HIE was the first regional health information organization in North Carolina and remains one of the largest in North America. The MEDSEEK physician portal is deployed at all 16 hospitals within the HIE: Angel Medical Center, CarePartners, Cherokee Indian Hospital, Harris Regional Medical Center, Haywood Regional Medical Center, Highlands-Cashiers Hospital, The McDowell Hospital, Mission Hospitals, Murphy Medical Center, Pardee Memorial Hospital, Park Ridge Hospital, Rutherford Hospital, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Swain County Hospital and Transylvania Community Hospital.
"MEDSEEK's physician portal has improved emergency care for patients across western North Carolina by enabling physicians to access most patient records — from any of the 16 hospitals in our network — within minutes instead of hours or days," said David M. Poorbaugh, MD, medical director and practicing emergency physician at 730-bed Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., which is part of Mission Health System.
"Before the MEDSEEK portal, we had to get a release from the patient, fax it to medical records and wait an interminable amount of time for somebody to be available to find and fax the records to you. It was unreliable and a very, very slow process," said Dr. Poorbaugh. "The portal has made a fundamental difference in how we treat patients in the emergency department. Anytime you have better integration of patient health records, it improves patient care. I wouldn't want to be without the portal and all the emergency physicians using it share my opinion."
Added Bowers, “In the past, a rural patient would see a specialist at a tertiary hospital, undergo treatment and return to their primary care physician without the vital details needed for continuing care. Now, the rural physician can pull up the specialist's notes, test results, prescribed medications and discharge summaries at a click of the mouse. This makes our physicians very happy – and our patients safer, and healthier.”
MEDSEEK enables clinicians to view patient data across all of the disparate systems in an enterprise with a single sign-on. The intuitive interface encourages clinicians to quickly adopt the secure, easy-to-use system. The portal also provides patient-physician interaction via secure eConsults to further enhance communications.
“To achieve a true, longitudinal patient record, hospitals must start with real-time access to complete patient data from anywhere in the HIE,” explains Peter Kuhn, president of MEDSEEK. “Our physician portal supplies the Western North Carolina HIE with the flexibility, personalization, and functionality required to realize their e-Health vision of providing a centralized access point for viewing all patient data, securely, quickly and easily.”
More here:
I then noticed the following.
MEDSEEK Leads in KLAS ® Rankings for Clinical Portal Solution
MEDSEEK Leads KLAS ® Portals Segment as of August 22, 2008.
Birmingham, AL (PRWEB) September 4, 2008 -- MEDSEEK , a leading provider of enterprise portal management solutions, announced today it leads in KLAS® rankings for its Clinical Web Portal software solution.
KLAS ® is an independent healthcare market research firm that gathers data about clinical portal solutions from CIO's, Directors, and other healthcare providers about software functionality, solution performance, technical support and service. According to the August 26, 2008 Platinum KLAS ® database, MEDSEEK has the highest current performance ratings, outscoring all other clinical portal solutions.
Peter Kuhn, President of MEDSEEK commented, "MEDSEEK's superior ranking in the KLAS ® report highlights our effort to provide comprehensive eHealth solutions." Kuhn added, "We frequently receive high praise from our clients on our ability to deliver complex installations on time and on budget. The KLAS rating validates our reputation as an organization that consistently delivers on our commitments."
More here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/09/prweb1279174.htm
It seems that at present MEDSEEK is the market leader. Having gone to their site (www.medseek.com) and explored for a while I can see why. There is a lot of useful functionality brought together here.
A day or so later I noted the following.
Wolters Kluwer to Buy UpToDate
September 4, 2008
Medical reference publisher Wolters Kluwer Health has announced it will acquire UpToDate Inc., a vendor of electronic, point-of-care clinical decision support software.
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More information is available at wkhealth.com and uptodate.com.
A quick visit here shows why WK Health were prepared to pay the required millions for the company. This was clearly a well thought portal providing clinical decision support for both health professionals and consumers.
All in all two very interesting portals that provide some useful ideas as to how Australia should be looking at architecting its national e-Health efforts.
David.
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