MSHA announces participation in the OnePartner HIE

Mountain States Health Alliance, the region’s largest health care system, has agreed to participate in OnePartner Health Information Exchange (HIE), a local community physician-led patient information database initiative designed to improve patient care and make health care safer and less expensive for patients and physicians alike.

Using the OnePartner HIE, health care providers across the region are able to securely access patient health information electronically to help facilitate quality care and reduce costs. The information exchange reduces costs by providing access to recent or previous test results and important patient health information which can avoid duplication of services and medical errors in addition to improving efficiency. The safe, secure and timely access to critical health information at the point of care is proven to be safer for patients by allowing physicians a more complete view of the patient health record so they can accurately and quickly diagnose and treat the patient. The OnePartner HIE provides an auditable record of access, making it safer and more secure than traditional methods of sharing patient information by phone or fax.

Mountain States, which was recently named a "Most Wired" healthcare system by Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine for the third year in a row, has implemented a robust electronic medical record across all 14 of its hospitals in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

"Mountain States Health Alliance is committed to enhancing quality patient care and improving the health of the community through innovative partnerships with our affiliated physicians and organizations like OnePartner," said Alan Levine, President and CEO of Mountain States Health Alliance. "We are pleased to join OnePartner to support our region’s medical community and enable our physicians to quickly and securely share clinical information about patients they have in common with other healthcare providers outside our system."

As health care reform progresses, Health Information Exchange is being implemented across the country to ensure that physicians, hospitals and other medical professionals have secure access to accurate patient health information, at the point of care, no matter where the patient seeks treatment. To date, OnePartner Health Information Exchange has garnered the participation and support of over 1,000 regional physicians collectively serving over 750,000 patients.

"The ability for hospitals and physicians to communicate electronically is crucial to streamlining the delivery of critical reports and results; making it much faster, safer and more efficient than other traditional methods of sharing information," said Dr. Scott Fowler, President and CEO of OnePartner. "We congratulate Mountain States Health Alliance and applaud their leadership in improving the quality and coordination of patient care."

To learn more about the OnePartner HIE, visit www.onepartner.com/hie.