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Cloud computing provider Covisint, a division of enterprise software firm Compuware, has announced a deal with Greater Tulsa Health Access Network to build an HIE (health information exchange) in the Tulsa, Okla., metropolitan area using Covisint’s ExchangeLink cloud platform.
Greater THAN is a nonprofit northeastern Oklahoma consortium of 50 health care organizations, including physicians, hospitals, patients, medical schools and city government.
Under the deal announced Jan. 25, Greater THAN will use ExchangeLink to boost health outcomes and information access while also increasing technology use and reducing costs.
“Covisint turns data into an asset in a way that meaningfully benefits health care stakeholders,” Brett Furst, Covisint’s vice president of health care, said in a statement. Covisint will measure improvements in health outcomes and care resulting from the Greater THAN data network, Furst added.
ExchangeLink allows companies to manage identity, maintain collaborative portals, exchange data, manage master patient indexes and gain quick retrieval of EHRs (electronic health records). The service also supports enterprise search and social networking as well as auditing and reporting.
In addition, ExchangeLink integrates with Covisint’s AppCloud marketplace of applications. Through AppCloud, health care firms can access apps for EHRs, e-prescribing, referrals, health plans, labs and disease management. ExchangeLink appealed to Greater THAN because it is flexible and scalable, according to Dr. David Kendrick, the hospital system’s president and CEO.
“Covisint also has demonstrated a unique ability to integrate seamlessly into clinician workflows, a key element to driving successful adoption of the community HIE,” Kendrick said in a statement.
Greater THAN and Covisint aim to build a secure network for doctors, hospitals and patients to share health information for a region’s health care system that trails almost all other states in performance, according to The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that promotes health reform. The fewest number of physicians per capita practice in Oklahoma compared with other states, according to Covisint and Greater THAN.
Last May, Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Tulsa area and 16 other communities would receive a federal Beacon grant to further health care IT. With its $12 million Beacon grant, a key goal for the Tulsa region is to build a communitywide information system among hospitals, providers, payers and government agencies.
“Covisint is helping us achieve our strategic objectives by providing needed information at the point of care, whether that is at a hospital, a home care setting, in an ambulance or at a physician’s office,” Kendrick said.
In a region that has the highest rate of cardiovascular disease in the nation, an HIE could help physicians better coordinate care, the White House reported during the May Beacon announcement.
“When coupled with the other elements of our Beacon Community technologies, the Covisint platform will enable us to significantly improve care coordination, eliminate duplication of tests and other unnecessary events, and improve the quality of individual and public health through a focus on the management of diabetes, improved cancer screening and immunization rates,” Kendrick said.
Among the recent HIE news, Hewlett-Packard announced a statewide Medicaid health data network with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Jan. 12. As part of the HIE platform, HP’s Web tools will replace paper-based Medicaid ID cards.
Meanwhile, government IT provider Harris announced an HIE deal for Florida in December, and GE Healthcare and health provider network KeyHIE (Keystone Health Information Exchange) have announced an expansion of an HIE for the central and northeast Pennsylvania communities.