Erickson Retirement Communities and St. Agnes Hospital Establish Nation’s First Operational Health Information Exchange

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A collaborative project between Erickson Retirement Communities and St. Agnes Hospital has established instant patient data exchange between their respective Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems, marking the first time in the United States that such a system has been developed between a hospital and a continuing care retirement provider. The health information exchange (HIE) system demonstrates the feasibility of efficient and secure healthcare data interchange while proving the value of technology in health settings.

"The real-time exchange of patient data benefits our residents tremendously -- when they are treated at St. Agnes, the care will be seamless and the caregivers will be fully informed about each patient's medical history," said John Erickson, Chairman and CEO of Erickson Communities. "We believe that the time has come to empower all consumers of health care by allowing them to instantly share their medical information.”

The goal of seamless health information interoperability was accomplished with the deployment of HealthUnity’s award-winning solution for HIEs -- a secure, privacy-protected, standards-based infrastructure for health care data collaboration.

“Establishing a secure health information exchange between Erickson and St. Agnes Hospital will enhance the quality of patient care the hospital can provide to Erickson residents,” said Bonnie Phipps, President and CEO of St. Agnes Hospital. “Such a collaboration will allow us and our patients immeasurable benefits including a reduction in turnaround time for retrieval of up-to-date patient information; the elimination of paper-based transmission of patient clinical information; a reduction in the need for patients to inform physicians of chart updates when moving between care settings (either verbally or through filling out redundant forms), and a reduction in resident’s average length-of-stay.”

To lead this initiative, Michael Penn, Manager of External Integration with Erickson, Ken McCormick, Director of Informatics with St. Agnes, and Edmond Magny, consulting with Audacious Inquiry, coordinated the efforts of the integration teams and helped develop a comprehensive strategy for healthcare data exchange.

Health Services Integration allows for the following efficiencies in daily clinical practice:

• Immediate access to comprehensive patient information
• Improvements in the quality of care administered to Erickson residents
• Facilitation of communication among medical service providers
• Lower health care costs associated with patient treatment and administration

The HIE allows residents from Charlestown Retirement Community, a campus developed and managed by Erickson, to be referred to St. Agnes Hospital for inpatient services as well as emergency care with their medical records electronically shared between the two institutions. The solution facilitates the exchange of information such as patient demographics, allergies, medications, discharge summaries and clinical summaries. It allows for both viewing as well as importing of standards-based clinical documents between the Meditech clinical information system at St. Agnes Hospital and the GE Centricity electronic medical system used by Erickson Health, the nation’s largest health and wellness system for older adults.

Tests of the system have been met with an overwhelmingly positive response by St. Agnes and Erickson Health physicians, with more than 90% of them giving the system positive ratings.

“It is essential that our nation’s healthcare system take advantage of technology for health information interoperability across a wide range of care settings,” said Dr. Matthew Narrett, Erickson’s executive vice president and chief medical officer. “This health information exchange system is raising the standard of excellence.”

The joint venture recently received a prestigious “Finalist” award for interoperability from the HIMSS Microsoft Healthcare Users Group (MS-HUG).

About Erickson:

• Erickson Retirement Communities (www.Erickson.com) has been based in Baltimore County, Md., since 1983. The company’s core business is developing and managing retirement communities for middle-income people. The Erickson lifestyle offers unparalleled opportunities and healthcare at an unmatched value. The Erickson network currently comprises 20 campuses. Seventeen campuses in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia together are home to more than 20,000 people and employ more than 10,000. The company is currently developing new communities in Kansas, Virginia, and Ohio, and is looking at potential sites across the U.S.

About St. Agnes Hospital:

St. Agnes Hospital (www.stagnes.org) is a comprehensive health care delivery network consisting of St. Agnes Hospital, a 323-bed hospital founded by the Daughters of Charity in 1862. St. Agnes is a full service teaching hospital with residency programs in a number of medical and surgical specialties. Key services include: The St. Agnes Cancer Center, The Chest Pain Emergency Center, The Bariatric Center of Excellence, Joint and Spine Care, Cardiovascular Services, Women’s Health Services, and Seton Medical Group St. Agnes is a member of Ascension Health, the largest non-profit health care organization in the nation. Ascension Health is dedicated to reaching new heights in health care and service to communities, as well as serving as a model for faith-based health care throughout the world.

About Audacious Inquiry, LLC:

Audacious Inquiry (www.audaciousinquiry.com) is an innovative management and technology consulting firm dedicated to helping client organizations leverage visionary processes, alliances, and information systems to improve efficiency and create sustainable competitive advantages. AI offers a wide range of consulting services, including:

• Measuring and optimizing operational performance
• Managing strategic change initiatives through quantifiable goals and objectives
• Developing of “out of the box” spin-out projects to explore alternate revenue streams or diversify the business
• Evaluating the return on investment for project portfolios, and ensuring the alignment of capital investments with strategic goals

About HealthUnity Corp:

Founded in 2004, HealthUnity (www.healthunity.com) is a leading provider of end-to-end products and services for health information exchange. HealthUnity provides the products, professional and support services, and the legal framework for building such exchanges. Its products target Regional Health Information Networks (RegHIN™), Enterprise Health Information Networks (EntHIN™), Radiology Health Information Networks (RadHIN™) and Laboratory Health Information Networks (LabHIN™). HealthUnity is headquartered in Bellevue, WA with a regional center in Bangalore, India. More information is available at www.healthunity.com.