Jersey Health Connect, one of four regional health information exchanges (HIEs) in the state chosen to share $11.4 million in federal money awarded to create a statewide HIE, is already exchanging patient data and laying out plans for how to spend its allotment of $3.4 million.
"We want to get to the meat of what we're going to do," said Michael McTigue, CIO of Saint Barnabas Health Care System.
So far, at Saint Barnabas, 60 physicians are connected, and more physicians are being added every week, he said. The focus for its various committees is on determining the clinical volume of participation across member facilities and what kinds of data will be exchanged. Jersey Health Connect is in talks with laboratories to include lab data for a more comprehensive repository.
The regional HIE created its bylaws and was incorporated in February 2010. It began in the summer of 2009 as collaboration among leaders of six healthcare systems with the goal of achieving meaningful use, he said. What kept competition out of the dialogue was the consensus that sharing patient information was the right thing to do for patient care, McTigue said.
Atlantic Health, one of the original members, had been using RelayHealth's platform for health information exchange and clinical integration across its three facilities, said Ken Tarkoff, COO of RelayHealth. The health IT vendor encouraged Atlantic Health and its new clients to leverage its technology, a multi-tenant, software-as-a-service platform, to address market needs and to achieve sustainability faster, he said. The Internet is the connecting platform, but data is kept separately, unless participating members choose to share particular data.
Connection grows
Leveraging the platform enabled Jersey Health Connect to bypass spending on the IT base. Members agreed on the platform and how to share data, which allows the regional HIE to use resources to bring in more providers, McTigue said. The collaboration has grown and now includes some 27 hospitals, healthcare systems and physician practice groups.
State leaders say $11.4 million is not enough to build a statewide network. Jersey Health Connect's IT infrastructure is leading the way as a model for a state that has few resources, McTigue said. "We're getting buy-in from the state," he said. The New Jersey Hospital Association is also helping the regional HIE, and the state Medicaid program may also figure into the mix. Through its IT infrastructure, Jersey Health Connect is "demonstrating that there is a better, different way to go at this with limited resources," said Tarkoff. "You don't have to buy or build the infrastructure," he said. By leveraging the technology, members continue to get value as they participate.
One of the components of the meaningful use criteria is consumer engagement. While many HIE efforts are incorporating that component in later stages, RelayHealth's patient/physician portal incorporates consumer engagement in the first phase, Tarkoff said.
Jersey Health Connect is seeing consumer participation in the number of hits or times patients are accessing data, such as test results and medication list.
"We're absolutely seeing the value of this portal," McTigue said. Never underestimate consumer demand, he said. "They do want it, and they understand it," he said. "That's where we need to go."
While the regional HIE is in talks with leaders in New York State and Pennsylvania to determine how to achieve interstate connectivity, "the ultimate goal is to take the four HIEs and create a statewide HIE," McTigue said.
