Park Ridge Hospital “Go Live” Completes Phase I of Western North Carolina HIE Powered by MEDSEEK Physician Portal

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDSEEK, a leading provider of enterprise portal connectivity solutions, today announced that Western North Carolina Health Information Exchange (HIE) implemented MEDSEEK’s physician portal at Park Ridge Hospital. This “go live” completes the first phase of its e-health initiative by enabling all 16 participating facilities to exchange patient data electronically. During phase II, MEDSEEK’s physician portal will connect physician office EMRs to the HIE network.

“With the completion of Phase I, we plan to pilot data exchange between community physicians and inpatient facilities this fall, which will further advance clinical decision-making and patient care across our region,” said Gary Bowers, Executive Director of the Western North Carolina Health Network. “MEDSEEK excelled when faced with the challenge of connecting five different information systems across 16 hospitals to deliver the right data from the right systems in real-time. The MEDSEEK physician portal allows our doctors to pull up a new patient’s history, recent medications, lab results, emergency contact and primary care physician within seconds. The portal has generated significant overall productivity gains by streamlining clinical workflow, eliminating repeat tests and reducing the potential for medical errors.”

The WNC Data Link HIE was the first regional health information organization in North Carolina and remains one of the largest in North America. The MEDSEEK physician portal is deployed at all 16 hospitals within the HIE: Angel Medical Center, CarePartners, Cherokee Indian Hospital, Harris Regional Medical Center, Haywood Regional Medical Center, Highlands-Cashiers Hospital, The McDowell Hospital, Mission Hospitals, Murphy Medical Center, Pardee Memorial Hospital, Park Ridge Hospital, Rutherford Hospital, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Swain County Hospital and Transylvania Community Hospital.

"MEDSEEK's physician portal has improved emergency care for patients across western North Carolina by enabling physicians to access most patient records — from any of the 16 hospitals in our network — within minutes instead of hours or days," said David M. Poorbaugh, MD, medical director and practicing emergency physician at 730-bed Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., which is part of Mission Health System.

"Before the MEDSEEK portal, we had to get a release from the patient, fax it to medical records and wait an interminable amount of time for somebody to be available to find and fax the records to you. It was unreliable and a very, very slow process," said Dr. Poorbaugh. "The portal has made a fundamental difference in how we treat patients in the emergency department. Anytime you have better integration of patient health records, it improves patient care. I wouldn't want to be without the portal and all the emergency physicians using it share my opinion."

Added Bowers, “In the past, a rural patient would see a specialist at a tertiary hospital, undergo treatment and return to their primary care physician without the vital details needed for continuing care. Now, the rural physician can pull up the specialist's notes, test results, prescribed medications and discharge summaries at a click of the mouse. This makes our physicians very happy – and our patients safer, and healthier.”

MEDSEEK enables clinicians to view patient data across all of the disparate systems in an enterprise with a single sign-on. The intuitive interface encourages clinicians to quickly adopt the secure, easy-to-use system. The portal also provides patient-physician interaction via secure eConsults to further enhance communications.

“To achieve a true, longitudinal patient record, hospitals must start with real-time access to complete patient data from anywhere in the HIE,” explains Peter Kuhn, president of MEDSEEK. “Our physician portal supplies the Western North Carolina HIE with the flexibility, personalization, and functionality required to realize their e-Health vision of providing a centralized access point for viewing all patient data, securely, quickly and easily.”

About MEDSEEK

Birmingham, Ala.-based MEDSEEK provides healthcare organizations with enterprise eHealth solutions to fully engage and strengthen relationships with key constituents – physicians, patients, employees, and consumers. By connecting information and communities to foster an enhanced experience with the organization, hospitals will improve community advocacy, revenue and patient throughput, and clinical decision making. MEDSEEK’s comprehensive technology platform and strategic consulting services create the infrastructure and provide the thought leadership for hospitals to deliver the most powerful portal solutions. With more than ten years’ experience and 600+ hospital customers, MEDSEEK has the experience and expertise to meet the diverse needs of the healthcare community. MEDSEEK also maintains offices in California and Mississippi. For more information, visit www.medseek.com or call 888-MEDSEEK.

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