Chicago, IL (June 19, 2007) - CareSpark (www.carespark.com) – a not-for-profit regional health information organization (RHIO) serving the Central Appalachian region of the United States – has selected Initiate Identity Hub™ software from Initiate Systems, Inc., as the foundational technology linking and matching patient records for its consortium of providers, employers and payers in the northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia region. Initiate Identity Hub™ software will support CareSpark in generating accurate, timely and complete patient information for participating caregivers and patients within 17 counties in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia with more than 750,000 residents, 18 hospitals and 1,200 physicians.
“For a RHIO to be effective, data exchange must be handled in an effective and secure manner,” said Liesa Jenkins, CareSpark’s executive director. “We chose Initiate Identity Hub software because it will help accurately match records for patients that are served by multiple healthcare organizations, thereby reducing medical errors and improving health outcomes in a region where improvement is greatly needed.”
Initiate Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of enterprise master person index (EMPI) solutions for creating complete, real-time views of data about people, households, and organizations. Jenkins said Initiate Systems is helping RHIOs like CareSpark fill a critical patient identification and information void, especially among populations where the cost of healthcare is problematic and encounters are sporadic.
Jenkins explained that sporadic access to a healthcare system produces fragmented healthcare information drawn from disparate data sources. She said the lack of accurate, composite patient information on a single screen in settings such as an emergency room can lead to medical errors that threaten patient health and safety, as well as the effective operation of healthcare institutions on multiple levels.
“For the first time, a participating physician at any point of care in Central Appalachia can have a patient’s complete history and records in front of them before treating,” said Lorraine Fernandes, senior vice president, healthcare practice for Initiate Systems. “It is vitally important to know what medications a patient is on, what allergies they may have, past problems and treatments, along with demographic information. Our software’s ability to match and link records in real time is the basis of excellence for a regional health care organization like CareSpark.” Further, the software will aid CareSpark’s efforts to support the patient’s ability to determine what information will be shared, thus supporting patient confidentiality and privacy.
Dr. John Dreyzehner, chair of the CareSpark board of directors, said Initiate Systems’ flexible architecture and robust security provisions will serve the region as it grows and crosses geographical boundaries.
“We believe that the Initiate Identity Hub software will scale to support current and future patient or physician needs and preferences for data exchange, while continuing to address confidentiality and data security,” he explained.
Initiate Systems is the premier software company providing Master Data Management (MDM) solutions deployed as an Enterprise Master Person Index (EMPI) in the healthcare industry. Technology industry research firms Gartner and Forrester have recognized Initiate Systems as one of the leading customer data integration companies in the world.