Strategic Initiative Focuses on Translating ARRA Meaningful Use Guidelines into Practical Applications

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- State government leaders, Medicaid agencies, hospital and physician associations, and other entities are formulating strategies for tapping federal stimulus money to create interoperable health information exchanges (HIEs).

Their goal is to share patient data between healthcare stakeholders in order to improve decision-making when and where medical care is delivered -- increasing quality and patient safety while reducing the overall costs of care.

To support these efforts, Thomson Reuters is delivering a comprehensive HIE technology platform embedded with sophisticated analytics that will enable a new generation of "meaningful use" applications.

"Five years from now, when dozens of new HIEs are sharing data between diverse electronic medical record (EMR) systems, laboratories, pharmacies, and other sources, will physicians be using this information to make better decisions?" asked Jerry Osheroff, M.D., chief clinical informatics officer for Thomson Reuters.

"Will hospitals and ambulatory practices reduce costs through IT efficiencies? Will the organizations that pay for healthcare -- from Medicare to public and private employers -- see healthcare costs controlled and quality improved?

"At Thomson Reuters, we believe the answers will depend on whether these HIEs are wed to advanced analytic capabilities -- allowing the data they carry to be transformed into meaningful, valuable information."

To that end, the company's solution features:

• A proven, flexible and scalable HIE technology platform that can serve as the backbone of a statewide HIE initiative.
• Advanced exchange functionality to cost effectively integrate legacy health IT applications to "share" clinical and administrative information in a secure, reliable and incremental manner.
• A hybrid HIE architecture that combines advanced federated functionality with a centralized data repository that integrates select clinical and administrative data for meaningful use analytics and reporting.
• A Quality Measures Engine that codifies integrated data sets into discrete quality, compliance, and financial measures to meet meaningful use requirements.
• Real-time reporting solutions that help healthcare providers cost-effectively meet reporting requirements such as those implemented by the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative.
• A Continuity of Care Viewer that organizes longitudinal patient data into episodes of care and provides real-time alerts of gaps in care.

Thomson Reuters is piloting these applications in select states to test functionality, monitor use, and determine opportunities to improve the standardization, measurement and display of integrated clinical data sets. The company plans to report initial results early in the first quarter of 2010.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: TRI) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TRI). For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

SOURCE Thomson Reuters

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