Care Connectivity Consortium Celebrates Milestone at 2012 Annual HIMSS Conference

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Less than one year after announcing a new initiative to securely exchange electronic health data, the five innovative and leading health systems that make up the Care Connectivity Consortium, will demonstrate their data exchange technology and process at the 2012 Annual Health Information Management Systems Society Conference in Las Vegas, Nev. Feb. 20-24.

The Care Connectivity Consortium, which consists of Geisinger Health System (Penn.), Kaiser Permanente (Calif.), Mayo Clinic (Minn.), Intermountain Healthcare (Utah), and Group Health Cooperative (Wash.), announced its mission to create a way to safely and securely exchange patient health information among their disparate electronic health record systems in April 2011, just nine months ago.

The organizations, each of whom are pioneers in the use of electronic medical records for their patients, share the belief that electronic medical information is one of the most important care support tools available in world health care today.  The Care Connectivity Consortium will demonstrate publicly for the first time since its formation, its advancements in data sharing and discuss milestones for the future of the Consortium. Among the many activities taking place at HIMSS is a View from the Top session that will feature George Halvorson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente; John Noseworthy, MD, president and chief executive officer, Mayo Clinic; and Charles W. Sorenson, MD, president and chief executive officer, Intermountain Healthcare.

The Care Connectivity Consortium will engage attendees with real-time demonstrations of the data sharing capabilities between its five member organizations at the Interoperability Showcase Booth #11000 in Exhibit Hall G. Visitors will experience the exchange in a booth mirroring two clinical environments. Clinical and technical representatives from each organization will rotate demonstrating a scripted data exchange scenario. Attendees will view health information exchange solutions at work and hear from providers who use them every day in their clinical environment. The HIMSS Live Exchange theatre is a unique opportunity for attendees to bridge the gap between their technical and clinical knowledge.

Showcase Theater presentations will be held continuously throughout the conference. Each Care Connectivity Consortium organization will have one 45-minute presentation at the Interoperability Showcase Theatre focusing on one CCC key message in their presentations.

The goal of the consortium is to demonstrate better and safer care for patients with better data availability. If a patient from one system gets sick far from home and must receive health care in another system — or if any system sends patients to another — doctors and nurses at each of the consortium systems will be able to easily and quickly access invaluable information about the patient's medications, allergies and health conditions, allowing them to provide the right kind of treatment at the right time and avoid unintended consequences like adverse medication interactions.

Members of the Care Connectivity Consortium have a clear vision that the same benefits of the full medical information that exists in each of the organizations' EHR systems should be extended to all patients by connecting all communities and the nation in order to improve health care for all Americans. The collective goal is to implement first generation CCC interoperability tools over the next year, in a manner consistent with national health IT standards. The consortium partners are already clear leaders in health IT implementation — all are committed to sharing experiences with the health care community to improve care delivery and outcomes for all patients in America.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about and www.mayoclinic.org/news.

About Geisinger Health System
Geisinger is an integrated health services organization widely recognized for its innovative use of the electronic health record, and the development and implementation of innovative care models including ProvenHealth Navigator, an advanced medical home model, and ProvenCare ("warranty") program. The system serves more than 2.6 million residents throughout 42 counties in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.geisinger.org.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support. For more information, go to www.kp.org/newscenter.

About Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based system of 23 nonprofit hospitals, more than 150 clinics, a Medical Group with some 900 employed physicians, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in clinical quality improvement and in efficient health care delivery.  For more information about Intermountain, please visit our website and online annual report at www.intermountainhealthcare.org.

About Group Health Cooperative
Marking its 64th year, Group Health Cooperative is an innovative, consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system that integrates care and coverage. Along with its subsidiary carriers, Group Health Options, Inc. and KPS Health Plans, Group Health works to improve the health of more than 675,000 plan members in Washington and Idaho. Group Health Cooperative is ranked "Highest in Member Satisfaction among Commercial Health Plans in the Northwest Region" by J.D. Power and Associates.  More than 9,000 staff employed by Group Health and Group Health Physicians, its contracted, multispecialty group practice, provide patient-centered, evidence-based care to members and the broader community through medical centers, a charitable foundation, and a nationally recognized research center.   For more information, please visit the virtual newsroom on our Web site, www.ghc.org under "Newsroom."

For information, contact:
Ravi Poorsina
Kaiser Permanente
510-421-0557
[email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente