One Of Colorado's Largest Physician Networks Signs Agreement To Join Colorado Health Information Exchange

DENVER, Sept. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CORHIO, the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization, announced today that the Integrated Physician Network (iPN), a large, multi-specialty association of physicians and medical practices, has signed a contract to join its health information exchange (HIE) network. The iPN operates as a quality improvement collaborative and focuses on improving the health of Colorado residents across the Front Range through electronic health records (EHRs) and adherence to evidence-based care protocols. 

More than 200 physicians and other care providers across 40 practice sites participate in iPN across the Front Range. The nationally recognized collaborative is well-known for being a trailblazer in the area of EHR utilization and population health management.

"We believe we are accountable to deliver superior care to our patients and through our aggregate EHR data, we strive to better understand our community's health needs around screening and prevention, and those people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes," said Dr. David Ehrenberger, chief medical officer of iPN and chief medical officer at Avista Adventist Hospital. 

By connecting to CORHIO's HIE, iPN providers will have the ability to seamlessly and electronically access clinical data across disparate systems outside of their local network with Centura Health hospitals—including Boulder Community Hospital, Longmont United Hospital, and other health care providers in the region. When necessary for patient care, CORHIO provides physicians and other medical care providers with secure access to important clinical information, including lab test and pathology results, x-ray, MRI and other imaging reports, and physician transcription reports. In the future, the HIE is scheduled to be upgraded to include additional data types and functionality.

"A significant amount of our patient information comes from sources outside of our provider network, such as regional community hospitals, labs and imaging centers," explained Dr. Ehrenberger. "That's why we are so excited to be a part of the HIE; it is launching us into a new era and taking us to the next level of proactive population health management."

By participating in HIE, health care providers have more comprehensive patient information at their fingertips that is used to improve quality of care, eliminate costly, redundant testing and reduce treatment delays and hassles for patients related to paper medical records and reports. 

"The iPN has always been interested in extending its health information exchange across the state," says Hans Wiik, president and CEO of the Integrated Physician Network. "It will be extremely beneficial for us to share patient information and better coordinate care with hospitals in our region, like Boulder Community Hospital and Longmont United Hospital, as well as with facilities in other areas of the state."

"We're delighted that the health care providers of iPN will soon have real-time access to more comprehensive and complete patient information, enabling them to provide higher quality, more timely and cost-effective health care," said Larry Wolk, M.D., CORHIO's chief executive officer. "Because their patients' data will be seamlessly accessible from their EHR application, it will save the providers time too.  It's a 'win-win' solution for everyone."

About CORHIO
CORHIO is dedicated to improving health care quality for all Coloradans through health information exchange (HIE). As the state designated entity for HIE, CORHIO collaborates with health care stakeholders including physicians, hospitals, clinics, public health, long-term care, laboratories, health plans and patients to improve care collaboration through secure systems and processes for sharing clinical information. CO-REC, a CORHIO initiative, assists primary care providers in adopting, implementing and becoming meaningful users of electronic health record (EHR) systems. CORHIO is a not-for-profit supported in large part by grants, including awards from the Colorado Health Foundation and from federal ARRA HITECH funds.  CORHIO's technical infrastructure is built on industry-leading HIE technology developed and maintained by Medicity. For more information about CORHIO, please visit www.corhio.org.

About iPN

The integrated Physician Network (iPN) is a quality improvement collaborative formed in 2004 when a group of independent physicians in the North Denver/Boulder area began implementation of a common electronic medical record (EMR). The iPN worked to embed key "evidence-based" care protocols in the EMR to provide real-time decision support at the point of care. Participating physicians have secure, web-based access to patient data, including demographics, referrals, medications, allergies, problem lists, procedures, alerts, laboratory and radiology reports creating a 'multi-specialty clinic without walls'. Integrated Physician Network, with over 200 providers across 40 practice sites, is partnered with Colorado's largest not-for-profit healthcare system, Centura Health. Physician members include 7 primary care practices, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center and several other specialties including Orthopedics, Cardiology, Pulmonology, Surgery, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Anesthesia. These independent physician practices are clinically integrated through population-based quality initiatives, benchmarking and sharing of best practices.

SOURCE CORHIO