MyHealthDIRECT to be Featured in HIMSS 2012 Presentation on Health Information Exchange Effectiveness

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MyHealthDIRECT (MHD) today announced that its Healthcare Scheduling Exchange (HSE) is featured in a case study presentation by Kim Pemble, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange (WHIE) in the Microsoft exhibit at HIMSS 2012 in Las Vegas. The presentation will focus on a successful initiative by WHIE, the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, Microsoft and MyHealthDIRECT to reduce avoidable emergency department visits and related costs, as well as improve care and reduce hospitalizations, at Milwaukee area hospitals.

Mr. Pemble's presentation will summarize the results of a study that appeared in the July/August 2011 issue of American Health & Drug Benefits magazine ("The Business Case for Payer support of a Community-Based Health Information Exchange"). The study, co-authored by Mr. Pemble, demonstrates that when clinicians utilize HIE in the care of patients who present to the emergency department, the costs borne by a health plan providing coverage for these patients decrease.

WHIE's exchange, implemented through the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership and utilizing MyHealthDIRECT's HSE and Microsoft's Amalga, an enterprise health intelligence platform, was the focus of the research. Humana in Southeast Wisconsin provided financial incentives for the promotion of the HIE among emergency department clinicians—one of the first health plans in the U.S. to do so.

As a key component of the WHIE system, MyHealthDIRECT's HSE offers emergency department staff an easy and convenient way to identify and schedule follow-up patient appointments with community healthcare providers. Initially deployed in 2006 and now used nationwide, MyHealthDIRECT's technology is at the forefront of innovation in reducing emergency department utilization and connecting patients with primary care providers..

"WHIE was the first health information exchange in the country to use Microsoft Amalga to aggregate data from multiple sources in order to provide more coordinated care and improve clinical decisionmaking all the way through patient discharge," said Dr. Edward Barthell, Director of Business Development for Microsoft's Health Solutions Group. "MyHealthDIRECT provides a unique integrated mechanism to schedule patients for prompt follow up care prior to their discharge from the emergency department."

"MyHealthDIRECT considers the WHIE/Milwaukee Health Care Partnership implementation to be an example for emergency departments around the country. We're pleased to have worked with Microsoft and our other partners to make this groundbreaking program possible," said Jay Mason, Chief Executive Officer of MyHealthDIRECT. "We hope hospital administrators, ED staff and others dedicated to the improvement of emergency department care will attend this important session."

Microsoft's display can be found at Booth #1629 in the HIMSS 2012 conference in Las Vegas, February 20-24. To learn more about MyHealthDIRECT, log on to www.myhealthdirect.com.

About MyHealthDIRECT
MyHealthDIRECT is the nation's only Healthcare Scheduling Exchange (HSE) that connects health plans, hospitals, care management organizations, public agencies and community collaboratives for the purpose of scheduling and booking timely and appropriate healthcare appointments on behalf of members and patients. Founded in 2006, MyHealthDIRECT offers a web-based solution that organizes open and available healthcare appointments in the community into a searchable and schedulable inventory of healthcare services. MyHealthDIRECT's HSE promotes continuity of care, reduces unnecessary cost and utilization and ensures that patients are matched with appointments that best fit their needs and preferences. MyHealthDIRECT's web-based solution helps healthcare organizations in 11 states improve access to care, facilitate care management and improve quality measures. For more information on MyHealthDIRECT please visit www.myhealthdirect.com.

SOURCE MyHealthDIRECT