St Clair Hospital has been collaborating with Preferred Healthcare Informatics (PHI) and GE Healthcare to place St Clair Hospital and its physicians among the most integrated users of electronic health records (EHR) in the region.
The collaboration further advances St Clair Hospital’s position in health care information technology. The latest enhancement is expected to fully integrate information from both the Hospital and physician office settings, enabling better coordination of patient care.
Reportedly, Preferred Primary Care Physicians (PPCP) was an early adopter of ambulatory EHR, having implemented GE Healthcare’s Centricity product six years ago.
EHR connects patient’s health care team members by allowing providers to electronically send and receive test results and other important medical information as they consult with each other.
EHR, empowered with the new HIE technology, puts a patient’s current and accurate medical information at a physician’s fingertips within seconds and in a secure manner that protects patient confidentiality. It also allows a patient to manage his or her own personal health record.
The selection of GE Healthcare technology as the platform for the synthesized system followed an evaluation of EHR vendors that found GE to have leading technology and proven solutions.
Richard Schaeffer, vice president and chief information officer at St Clair Hospital, said: “The arrangement between St Clair Hospital, PHI, and GE Healthcare is the first of its kind in the region.
“Through the use of GE Healthcare’s eHealth Information Exchange (eHIE) technology, the patient’s health records will be synthesized across the different sites of care. This will provide a convenient and more complete picture of patients’ health and enable physicians to make the highest quality clinical decisions for patients.”
Jim Corrigan, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT, said: “By encouraging the adoption of health care IT, St Clair Hospital is demonstrating its strength in leadership and is taking its place alongside other leading health care organizations across the nation.
“We’re in the midst of a changing, complex health care environment and it takes the unwavering commitment and dedication of customers like St. Clair to implement comprehensive solutions that can truly enhance patient care.”