Building RHIO's with the Federated Data Model
We have all heard the hype as every expert in the industry offers their opinion on building Regional Health Information Networks, but with over 100 projects in progress nationwide, which methodology is really working? Although some say the landscape still won't be ready for another 10 years, my involvement with connecting hospitals and hospital networks over the past decade has given me a much more positive perspective.
In 1996 AccessPt, which is now MEDSEEK envisioned such a goal. Termed internally as a "medical trading area" it allowed the free and rapid flow of information between disparate systems and locations, eliminated bottlenecks, redundancies and access problems. It effectively allowed healthcare enterprises to create a "virtual" electronic medical record (EMR) with data from multiple applications available over the Internet, securely encrypted, with single sign-on, and one common view of the data, regardless of its source.
Typically, the method for integrating disparate data into a common view is to "dump" all data into a clinical data repository (CDR). AccessPt challenged that method. We didn't want our customers to duplicate data that is already in electronic format, requiring an expensive second system to hold and manage that data. Instead, we developed a federated architecture of real-time interfaces to connect directly to the legacy vendors' databases, achieving the elusive EMR without having to spend millions on a CDR. In addition, we added Single Sign-On, Single Search, and audit trails all in one common view. This practically eliminated physician training on multiple systems and provided secure access anywhere a web browser was available. It also preserved investments in legacy systems, improved patient care, and sent physician satisfaction soaring. Our first customer which installed in 1997, is still using our product today
So what is our model for integrating data in a RHIO environment comprised of multiple Healthcare Organizations? Logically, if a virtual electronic medical record can be achieved at a single hospital, a virtual community health record across multiple hospitals is also attainable. Our Federated Data Model is architected to accomplish just that. With over 130 interfaces presently developed to legacy vendors such as McKesson, Meditech, Cerner, Siemens, and ancillary and specialty-specific systems (e.g. Cardiology, PACS, document imaging), we are making this vision a reality- TODAY.
On January 26, 2006 we rolled out the initial installation phase connecting 4 hospitals in the Western North Carolina Health Network. This is the first RHIO in North Carolina and one of the largest in North America. In the coming months it will link 16 area hospitals together in a dynamic synergy.
The key to success at Western North Carolina hinges on our powerful integration capabilities and true federated approach. Not only do we have a decentralized virtual EMR approach, we also have a decentralized patient mapping system that is, in essence, a crosswalk that maps the data elements of a single patient stored across all stakeholder systems.
The federated approach also allows multiple healthcare organizations to leverage existing disparate HIS environments, maintain each organization's autonomy, and allow for the eHealth initiative to evolve over time, easing the transition to new technologies. Consider for a moment that a RHIO is effectively a business venture between fierce competitors. As such, balancing costs with benefits and information access with security is a complicated matter that calls for highly advanced, mature and flexible IT solutions.
Contact Us to learn how RHIOs can build practical, federated healthcare portals to successfully meet the critical need for physicians and clinicians to have access to patient information in a timely and easy to read format. Creating a virtual EMR provides the lowest-cost, most effective solution to patient information access from incompatible back end systems. Virtual EMRs protect each hospital's investment in their existing health information systems, and provide vendor independence, exciting new functionality and revolutionary enhancements for building new applications. Experience the ease and rapidity with which information can be accessed and managed.
We can examine the three technology approaches to RHIO development - the centralized model, the hybrid model, and the federated model. We will be able to show you the critical success factors, including data integration and effective patient mapping systems. And finally, we can demonstrate the advantages of a federated model and teach you how to transform your hospital group's information flows, making them efficient, secure and cost effective.
To maximize the benefits of the continued support, funding, and advocacy of legislative actions, it is vitally important to seek the most economical and easily deployable means to realize the benefits of secure and free-flowing healthcare information exchange. The federated data model leverages existing applications to function as the central viewpoint for all patient data. As a virtual electronic medical record, this model is the ideal interoperable architecture for RHIO initiatives.
Copyright 2007, MEDSEEK Inc.