Data Exchange Service Integrates Patient Health Records

A new suite of services for hospitals and health information exchanges (HIEs) enables physicians to collect, manage, and share relevant patient information at the point of care.

The MedPlus Centergy Suite for Hospitals integrates and enhances data aggregation and exchange technologies, and enables hospitals, integrated delivery networks (IDNs), health systems, and HIEs to share data seamlessly across platforms for higher efficiency and an improved quality of care. The users of the Centergy services can easily share, access, and manage clinical information--such as patient demographics, medication lists, allergies, advance directives, information on physicians treating the patient, and medical problem lists - at the point of care. The Quest Diagnostics Care360, a web-based physician portal, also integrates seamlessly with the Centergy suite and supports clinical transactions for the physician office, such as laboratory test ordering and results, electronic prescribing, and peer-to-peer messaging. The Centergy suite also integrates with the MedPlus ChartMaxx 2008 document management and imaging (DMI) solution, which facilitates the entry and availability of electronic patient information without requiring a disruptive full-scale conversion to a paperless system. The Centergy Suite meshes with the Centergy patient portal as well, through which patients can manage their own personal health records using a simple, Web-based interface that enables them to share information with select healthcare providers. The MedPlus Centergy Suite, Quest Diagnostics Care360 portal, Centergy patient portal, and ChartMaxx 2008 are product of MedPlus (Cincinnati, OH, USA), the healthcare information technology subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics (Madison, NJ, USA).

"We see Centergy as a 'game-changer' for hospitals previously deterred by cost, IT, and workflow disruption barriers, and just the first of what we expect to be many MedPlus innovations designed to reduce barriers to HIT adoption," said Richard Mahoney, president of MedPlus, and vice president of health information solutions at Quest Diagnostics. "We are committed to continuing to lead the industry in the strategic development and deployment of technologies that facilitate interoperability, drive meaningful adoption, and enhance the care that healthcare providers deliver to their patients."

"Everyone talks interoperability but it is difficult to achieve," said Gilad Kuperman, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Board of The New York Clinical Information Exchange (NYCLIX). "In an era when implementation of an HIE is still considered a major accomplishment, thanks to MedPlus...we have realized the benefits of digital information without the longtime horizon of other massive, integrated systems."

NYCLIX is among the largest HIE's in the United States, with 8 of its 12 member hospitals operating in Manhattan (New York, NY, USA), including Beth Israel Medical Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

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