Healthcare It News - February 2008 - (Page 7)

www.HealthcareITNews.com industry news February 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News Maine begins to build hIE By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor auGuSta, me PHOTO BY SUN-JOURNAL, LEWISTON, MAINE Larry hopperstead, MD, stands amid the paper files at central Maine Medical center in Lewiston, Me. – With $4 million in hand, Maine healthcare leaders began this month to build a statewide health information exchange, making Maine among the first in the nation to create a statewide network. Nonprofit organization HealthInfoNet is developing the network that will connect hospitals and physician practices across the largely rural state. It has retained the services of technology companies 3M and Orion Health. “This project will be big and far-reach- Your passion is caring for others. At CDW, ours is providing the technology to help you. Rubbermaid Medical Mini Med Module Featuring a Motion® C5 docking station, this lightweight cart can be added to others for increased capacity and offers auto-locking medication drawers with PIN access. Tablet PC sold separately Motion® C5 Tablet PC Simplify your workflow and improve efficiency with this slate tablet PC. It lets you administer medication, record clinical notes and take pictures using one device. Bio-Optronics IndentifiOR Confirm patient identity and simultaneously generate chart, specimen and medication with the IdentifiOR. Using color photographs and biometric technology, it ensures patients and their treatment are synchronized. We’re there with the healthcare solutions you need. CDW understands that for you, providing the best patient care possible is everything. That’s why we work hard to provide point of care technology to That s point-of-care help you reduce medical errors, offer more precise diagnoses or even allow you to just spend more quality time with those you care for. And our experts understand the demands of the healthcare industry. So you not only get what you need, you get it whenever you need it. It’s helping those who help others. And as you already know, it’s quite satisfying. Call CDW today to have better care at your fingertips. CDWHealthcare.com 888.419.7377 ing – touching the lives of more than half of Maine’s population,” said David Howes, MD, vice chairman of HealthInfoNet and president and CEO of Martin’s Point Health Care. Wendy Wolf, MD, president and CEO of the Maine Health Access Foundation, said she and her colleagues view HealthInfoNet as a key way to provide better care for both insured and uninsured patients in the state. Wendy Wolf, MD Uninsured patients tend to receive the least coordinated care, she noted. Maine Health Access Foundation provided $2 million of seed money for HealthInfoNet. “This really represents true system change,” Wolf said. As HealthInfoNet expands services across the state, network officials estimate it will cut $50 million per year in healthcare costs as caregivers order fewer unnecessary and duplicative tests, procedures, prescriptions and hospital admissions. Beginning this winter, more than 2,000 healthcare providers, including 15 rural and urban hospitals across Maine and one-third of practicing physicians in Maine, will join with the Maine “this really Center for Disrepresents true ease Control system change.” and Prevention (part of the – Wendy Wolf, MD Department of Health and Human Services in a 24-month pilot of the new network). Hospitals and physician practices taking part in the pilot account for more than half of the state’s annual inpatient hospital admissions and nearly 40 percent of Maine’s outpatient visits each year, according to HealthInfoNet. Following the pilot, plans are to expand HealthInfoNet to include other providers who care for Maine’s 1.3 million residents. A new consolidated electronic health record made possible by HealthInfoNet will contain critical information drawn from records that have traditionally been separately maintained in physician practices, hospitals, laboratories and other disparate care settings, say HealthInfoNet leaders. Over time, the HealthInfoNet network also will enable individuals to have greater access to their own medical records, they add. Taking part in the pilot are Maine’s four largest health delivery systems (Central Maine Health Care, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, MaineGeneral Medical Centers and MaineHealth) as well as an independent, multi-site primary care practice, Martin’s Point Health Care, and an independent rural hospital, Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is developing a statewide public health information system and will be part of the pilot project. Organized as a public-private partnership, HealthInfoNet has received funding support from private foundations, provider organizations and state and federal government agencies. Funding for the two-year pilot has come primarily from the Maine Health Access Foundation ($2 million) and $1.1 million that will be paid to HealthInfoNet by Maine’s four largest healthcare delivery systems and Martin’s Point Health Care. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: MaINe 0208 ● e ● Connect: CdW 0208 1/16/08 3:50:23 PM http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.CDWHealthcare.com http://www.CDWHealthcare.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8590 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8671

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Healthcare It News - February 2008 Contents Hot Potato Wal-Mart Focus CIO Role Wasteland Linking Docs Katrina Work P4P Team Fire Sale? Emergency Systems Beyond Business

Healthcare It News - February 2008

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