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CalRHIO
Selects Medicity and Perot Systems to Build
Statewide Health Information Exchange for California
SAN FRANCISCO,
Calif., March 13, 2007
- CalRHIO announced today that it has selected Medicity,
Inc., teamed with Perot Systems (NYSE:PER), to build
a statewide health information exchange utility service
that will offer California health care providers secure
electronic access to patient medical records, where
and when they are needed.
“CalRHIO’s
primary goal is to deliver critical health information
services reliably and affordably to clinicians, patients,
state, county, and federal health agencies, and local
exchange efforts throughout California,” said
CalRHIO CEO and President Donald Holmquest, MD, JD.
“Medicity and Perot Systems were selected because
their solution offers a strong, proven, and scalable
technology platform that will eliminate limitations
on how individual health care organizations and local
communities design and implement the health information
exchange services they need.”
“In
addition to a suite of solutions that are already
integrated and interoperable, Medicity and Perot Systems
brought an innovative financial model to the table
that will enable us to sustain the project long term,”
said Molly Coye, MD, MPH, one of the founding directors
of CalRHIO’s board and CEO and president of
the Health Technology Center. “Creating a sustainable
business model is one of the biggest challenges for
health information exchange efforts nationally,”
Coye noted, citing findings of a federal study she
chaired last year that assessed nine statewide HIE
initiatives.
Medicity
and Perot Systems’ first step will be to assist
in the procurement of private seed money to fund start-up
costs for the CalRHIO HIE utility service, including
building the statewide backbone infrastructure and
integration, marketing and communication, and CalRHIO’s
operating budget. Financing requirements for this
phase are estimated at $300 million.
The
health information exchange platform will make it
possible for physician offices, hospitals, and health
plans that have invested in health information technology
to use their current technology to access data outside
their walls. While details of charges are yet to be
determined, the savings expected as a result of having
better information will be many times greater than
the cost, according to Holmquest.
Through
its partnership with Medicity and Perot Systems, CalRHIO
will offer a suite of secure, privacy-protected services
from which organizations can select to use all, some,
or none. For example, for communities that want to
enable all their health care providers to exchange
information, CalRHIO’s HIE utility service will
offer an optional alternative to building and financing
their own infrastructure. For communities that have
already initiated local health information exchange
efforts, the services offered will be compatible and
complementary.
“It
is imperative that we get a technology solution up
and running as soon as possible to accommodate the
needs of California doctors, hospitals, and patients,”
Holmquest said. “Every day in California, 50,000
or more patients are experiencing suboptimal care
solely because important medical information is missing
from their records. Payers and patients are paying
huge additional costs because of the fragmented care
that result from lack of timely information.”
Both HHS Secretary
Mike Leavitt and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have called
for adoption of electronic medical records over the
next several years to improve the quality and safety
of health care, as well as decrease costs. The health
information exchange utility service to be developed
by Medicity and Perot Systems for CalRHIO supports
the Governor’s Executive Order and will enable
electronic medical records to be shared confidentially
among providers across California and through the
National Health Information Network, currently under
development by HHS. The effort supports Secretary
Leavitt’s value-driven health care initiative
by promoting the adoption of electronic health records
and potentially enabling health care organizations
to track and document the efficiency and appropriateness
of care patients receive.
Medicity and Perot
Systems were selected to build the CalRHIO utility
service through a competitive bidding process.
“Medicity is
honored to be selected for this partnership. CalRHIO
has a bold vision to improve patient safety and reduce
healthcare costs throughout the state, and we look
forward to making this vision a reality through our
joint efforts,” said Kipp Lassetter, MD, Medicity
CEO. “We have been building and delivering the
software solutions necessary to make this project
successful for nearly 10 years and have proven our
ability to assimilate patient information from a wide
and varied number of sources into a single, unified
patient record view. We know medical errors are reduced,
patient care is improved, and costs are reduced when
caregivers have access to this critical information."
"For over 20
years, Perot Systems has applied advanced technology
to solve problems and improve processes in healthcare,”
said Chuck Lyles, president of Perot Systems’
healthcare industry group. “Our work with CalRHIO
will now extend those services to the many health
care providers throughout California as we collaborate
to deploy a network of connectivity for reducing costs,
enhancing patient safety, and improving the overall
delivery of care. We believe the CalRHIO initiative
will serve as a model for the nation for demonstrating
the benefits of community connectivity."
“CalRHIO set
up a rigorous process for selecting a partner to help
us build California’s statewide health information
exchange,” Holmquest noted. “We are extremely
grateful for the many good ideas that were contributed.
Considering the enormity and complexity of this project,
we anticipate that there will be opportunities for
additional vendors to partner with us on specific
projects and activities in the future.”
About
CalRHIO
CalRHIO is a collaborative statewide initiative whose
mission is to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency
of health care through the use of information technology
and the secure exchange of health information. For
more information on CalRHIO, visit www.calrhio.org.
About
Medicity
Medicity, Inc. is a clinical integration and interoperability
company serving hospitals, large physician groups,
RHIOs/HIEs, and payers. Company clients include thousands
of healthcare organizations. It has been connecting
healthcare since 1998. 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 2006 revenue of $2.3 billion.
The company has more than 21,000 associates located
in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional information
on Perot Systems is available at www.perotsystems.com.
Contact:
Karen Hunt, CalRHIO
510-499-3131
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