| Delaware
to Build First Statewide Health Information Network
Delaware Health Information
Network Announces Contract with Medicity to build
Statewide Health Information Exchange
Dover, Delaware,
October 4, 2006—The Delaware Health Information
Network (DHIN) and the Delaware Health Care Commission,
today announced a contract award to Medicity, Inc.
to build the first statewide health information exchange
to give physicians instant electronic access to patient
information at the time and place of care. The signing
of this contract is a critical step in making the
idea of electronic health records a reality in Delaware
and builds on the nearly $5 million in federal funding
that Senators Joe Biden and Tom Carper and U.S. Representative
Mike Castle have secured.
"Getting to
the point of contracting with the actual technology
vendor is a tremendous step forward in making electronic
records part of our health care system in Delaware.
After the Delegation worked to secure over $4 million
to get this project off the ground, I am so pleased
the DHIN is able to use this funding as leverage to
move forward and implement the project. Delaware is
very much on its way to being the first interoperable
state for an electronic health system -- something
all patients will benefit from," said Congressman
Castle.
Medicity will team
with Plano, Texas-based Perot Systems (NYSE: PER)
to deliver specific infrastructure portions of the
project to the DHIN. Perot Systems will provide data
center services, technical and provider help desks
and outreach training, as well as on-site customer
service.
“The Delaware
Health Information Network is a great example of what
is possible when we work together,” stated Senator
Tom Carper. “By expanding the use of the latest
health information technology and giving health practitioners
access to immediate, up-to-date information, we can
save lives, reduce medical errors and cut health care
costs. This program will help bring Delaware’s
health care system into the twenty-first century.”
The intent of the
DHIN Clinical Information Exchange Utility is to provide
secure, fast, and reliable exchange of health information
among the many health care providers treating patients
in the State of Delaware. First to connect to the
network will be Bayhealth Medical Center, Beebe Medical
Center, Christiana Care Health System and LabCorp
along with physician practices across the State of
Delaware.
“Delaware is
being looked upon by the Federal government and other
states and communities as a leader in health information
exchange,” said Joseph M. Letnaunchyn, DHIN
Board chair. “No other state in the nation has
been able to fully integrate health information on
a statewide level. Because of Delaware’s size
and collaborative nature, the first phase of the project
is expected to go live within the next nine months.”
The Utility is being
funded by a public-private partnership including participating
health care organizations, the State of Delaware and
the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Delaware is
fast becoming the ‘First State’ in health
information exchange,” stated John C. Carney,
Jr., Lt. Governor and Chair of the Delaware Health
Care Commission. “We’ve had a remarkable
number of providers, including hospitals, labs and
doctors, participate in this process. Our size and
the great sense of community that exists here have
resulted in a lot of people doing high quality work
in creating this exciting opportunity. We hope to
become a model for the rest of the country in improving
health care quality, patient safety and cost.”
“Believe it
or not,” explains Medicity CEO J. Kipp Lassetter,
“in an age of technological sophistication,
this is the first time any state has undertaken to
connect all of the major sources of patient clinical
information in order to improve the safety and timeliness
of patient care. We believe this undertaking is indicative
of the leadership in Delaware. Medicity has been perfecting
the technology to accomplish this goal for the better
part of a decade. We have demonstrated its effectiveness
in health care organizations on a national scale for
several years, but this is the first time anyone has
applied it to public health concerns statewide across
organizations—each with different collections
of clinical systems, representing dozens of vendors
in total.”
The Utility will
provide a streamlined results distribution system.
Currently, health care providers receive lab, radiology
and other test results via telephone, fax, courier,
and in some cases through a web portal that the provider
must sign into and query for his/her patient’s
test results. The Utility will allow the provider
to decide in what format he/she wants to receive all
test results and will deliver those results to the
provider in real-time based on their chosen method,
regardless at which participating entity the test
was performed. In most cases, there will be little
to no added investment to the provider, and the result
will be a more efficient, cost-effective and streamlined
process for the practice. Those practices that have
Internet access may choose to have results delivered
to a secure mailbox where they can track and manage
their patients’ test results as well as make
referrals to other providers using the Utility. Practices
with electronic medical records can have results delivered
directly to the patient’s electronic record
in a secure manner. Practitioners also will receive
alerts when a result is outside normal limits.
“The technology
is there,” Lassetter elaborates, “but
education and political barriers have hindered the
deployment of solutions like this one.” DHIN
is a public-private cooperative organized for the
purpose of facilitating care quality and systemic
efficiencies. “DHIN has done an enviable job
of bringing together all of the constituents in Delaware’s
health care community and creating a plan that delivers
real value to every participant, especially patients
who will benefit from the improvements in care quality,”
Dr. Lassetter notes.
According to Janice
E. Tildon-Burton, M.D., President of the Medical Society
of Delaware, “The greatest benefit of the Utility
is that physicians will have the information they
need, when they need it, at their fingertips. The
potential for avoiding unnecessary tests, given the
delays and inefficiencies of the current, paper-based
system, will yield better, more cost effective care
for our patients.”
Medicity was selected
to build this network through a competitive bid that
included two rounds of evaluation, narrowing aspirants
to a final field of three. The decision was announced
this month after the extendable six-year contract
was finalized. The first phases of the project will
be operational within the next six to nine months.
About
DHIN
The Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) was
established by the Delaware General Assembly in 1997
as a public instrumentality of the State to advance
the creation of a statewide health information and
electronic data interchange network for public and
private use. It functions under the direction of the
Delaware Health Care Commission. The DHIN is a public-private
partnership, which provides the organizational infrastructure
to support a clinical information sharing utility.
In 2005, the Health Care Commission was awarded a
five-year federal contract from the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality to develop the DHIN Clinical
Information Exchange Utility. This funding was augmented
in 2006 with a $2.0 million appropriation in the State
of Delaware Bond and Capital Improvements budget.
The DHIN’s community-based partners have matched
the State funds for an additional $2.16 million in
the current fiscal year. The Utility is expected to
go live in early 2007 with added functions and new
users to be added over the following three-year period.
For more information please visit www.state.de.us/dhcc/information/dhin.shtml.
About Medicity
Medicity, Inc. serves the health care industry with
Web-based portal solutions, electronic health records,
and community-wide patient indexing solutions for
hospitals, payers and large physician groups. Medicity
has been connecting health care since 1999 and company
clients include more than 1200 health care organizations.
For more information please visit www.medicity.com.
About Perot
Systems
Perot Systems is a worldwide provider of information
technology services and business solutions. Through
its flexible and collaborative approach, Perot Systems
integrates expertise from across the company to deliver
custom solutions that enable clients to accelerate
growth, streamline operations and create new levels
of customer value. Headquartered in Plano, Texas,
Perot Systems reported 2005 revenue of $2.0 billion.
The company has more than 19,000 associates located
in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional information
on Perot Systems is available at www.perotsystems.com.
For Additional Information Contact:
Delaware Health Care Commission
Sarah McCloskey
(302) 672-5187
Medicity Contact:
Brent Dover
bdover@medicity.com
(404) 403-3432
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