Case Study: Care Coordination Improved through Health Information Exchange Coastal Women’s Healthcare is a clinic that specializes in gynecologic and obstetric care, mammography, bone density, and minimally invasive surgery for women. They were recognized in 2011 for excelling in the requirements for Stage 1 of Meaningful Use. Successful completion of Stage 1 Meaningful Use was contributed to the formation of a MU team that consisted of nurses, technicians and secretaries who helped implement workflows to fulfill the MU and health information exchange requirements. One of their focuses for Meaningful Use was the health information exchange aspect. The goal was to use information exchange to better coordinate patient care with other providers. Coastal felt that they would improve quality and care through health information exchange by migrating new diagnoses to a patient’s existing problem list. In order to achieve this goal, building new ways for the system to record information and map new processes needed to be accomplished. The result of their efforts were details and diagnoses that were maintained on the first page contributing to improved patient care and illustrating MU by exchanging key clinical information (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2012). In addition, Coastal created a connection to the state’s HIE by the help of a contracted partner, HealthInfoNet. Connecting to the state’s HIE allowed the clinic to access medical records that have been pushed there by providers, hospitals, and labs. This bidirectional interface gave providers complete access to their patient’s records, eliminating duplicate testing, increasing patient safety and promoting better care coordination. As with any new technology, there are always concerns or challenges. One concern for Coastal was being able to maintain individual thought processes amidst the standardized protocols that the system used. Conversely, a concern that most providers and hospitals have
when implementing technology into the patient-provider interaction is if the technology would interfere with patient relationships. To combat this challenge, Coastal designed exam rooms to allow the computer to feel secondary and also use patient’s photos in their EHR system to help personalize the experience (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2012). The next steps for Coastal Women’s Healthcare is to meet MU Stage 2 with success. They plan on doing this by continuing to work alongside HealthInfoNet so more practices and hospitals are connected to the state’s HIE. HealthInfoNet expects to connect all of the Maine hospitals so health information can be exchanged on the majority of patient’s in the state. Having a goal to enable all surrounding hospitals and clinics to be a part of a state HIE is essential in achieving both Stage 2 and Stage 3 of Meaningful Use. Coastal is ahead of the game by focusing on the HIE aspect because nearly 40 percent of MU has to do with HIE. With their successful adoption and implementation, they will continue to be able to contribute to improved health outcomes and better care coordination through the use of their HIE partnership.
References Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (2012). Care Coordination Improved through Health Information Exchange . Retrieved from HealthIT.gov: https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/care-coordinationimproved-through-health-information-exchange
