RelayHealth networks 50 health systems and hospitals to facilitate health information exchange

RelayHealthOct 12 2009

RelayHealth, a leading provider of healthcare connectivity services, today announced that 50 health systems and hospitals are now contracted for its solutions to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) and care coordination. This milestone underscores RelayHealth’s market leadership in providing the largest broad-scale connectivity and patient-centric network that facilitates patient care coordination for health systems and other healthcare constituents. RelayHealth’s unique suite of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) connectivity solutions enable real-time nationwide access and exchange of actionable health information.

As part of the RelayHealth network, these health systems will have connectivity to more than 20,000 primary and specialty care physicians, 90 percent of retail pharmacies, and 52 reference laboratories, radiology systems and clinical documentation systems---automatically updating more than 7.6 million patient personal health records. Collectively, these hospitals and health systems are performing HIE activities such as: sharing test results, exchanging clinical information, connecting patients with physicians and their staff, utilizing electronic prescribing, assisting with chronic care management, automating administrative functions and more.

“Achieving this milestone cements RelayHealth’s market leadership position as a provider of connectivity solutions that enable health information exchange and validates our dedication to an information-empowered healthcare system,” said Jim Bodenbender, president of RelayHealth’s Consumer and Provider Solutions. “In the past the cost of connecting multiple platforms impeded the ability to exchange health data. RelayHealth provides the foundation and solutions to deliver affordable connectivity, continuity of care and patient involvement.”

John Muir Health and Saint Luke’s Health System are two large hospital systems successfully leveraging RelayHealth’s powerful, scalable and cost-effective platform to exchange health information and facilitate patient engagement.

A preeminent northern California health system with two acute-care medical centers serving 4 million people, John Muir Health began using RelayHealth in 2007 to simplify the difficulties of coordinating community care. Today, more than 700 physicians in its owned practices and an affiliated independent physician association (IPA) have HIE connectivity. Self-registered patient connections have increased 75 percent since January, while the number of provider-initiated messages rose more than 46 percent. An estimated half a million lab results, radiology reports and transcribed documents are exchanged monthly to physicians associated with both John Muir Health and Hill Physicians Medical Group, one of the nation’s largest IPAs and a RelayHealth HIE customer since 2002.

“John Muir Health uses RelayHealth as a bridge to electronic patient records and the PHR,” said Eric Saff, chief information officer at John Muir Health. “With patients, physicians and participating payors using RelayHealth as the entry point to exchange data online, comprehensive patient care coordination is possible at multiple community locations.”

Saint Luke’s Health System (SLHS) consists of 11 hospitals, 17 physician offices and clinics, and home care and hospice that service Kansas City residents. In mid 2007, SLHS launched its enterprise-wide health information exchange strategy deploying RelayHealth’s SaaS network because it offered an innovative approach to meld together all the key constituents involved in a patient’s care. Nearly 300 physicians participate and have created 120,000 patient health records; 19,500 patients interact online with their physicians. SLHS has processed more than 750,000 lab results, radiology reports, transcribed documents, electronic prescriptions and messages across its health information exchange this year.

“We consider RelayHealth to be the cornerstone of our HIE strategy to exchange and archive patient data in order to improve the quality, safety and continuity of care, and to help differentiate Saint Luke’s in a competitive managed care market,” said Deborah Gash, vice president and chief information officer, Saint Luke’s Health System. “We’ve also linked RelayHealth with another regional lab which enables both the hospital and the physician offices to receive discrete lab results in their electronic medical records or their patient’s PHR. This is a huge benefit to physicians’ workflow and decision making.”