Kokomo hospitals implement Indiana Health Information Exchange clinical messaging service

41 hospitals throughout Indiana are now connected via the IHIE system

Indianapolis, April 21, 2009 – Physicians and patients at the Howard Regional Health System and St. Joseph Hospital can now benefit from the clinical information exchanged through Indiana Health Information Exchange’s (IHIE) DOCS4DOCS® service. The Kokomo-based health care providers have implemented IHIE’s secure, Web-based service that delivers clinical reports like lab results, reports, and treatment information in real-time, sent instantly to where it needs to be for patient care (outpatient centers and ambulatory practices).

“Having two hospital systems in the same community work closely together in order to bring the DOCS4DOCS service to their patients is exactly the kind of collaboration that exemplifies the commitment to high quality, efficient care,” said Dr. J. Marc Overhage, President and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Overhage also serves as Director of Medical Informatics at the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and is Regenstrief Professor of Medical Informatics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “These hospital systems understand the value of having clinical information in the right place, at the right time and how it can improve patient outcomes and save health care dollars.”

The DOCS4DOCS service is one of the nation’s most respected clinical messaging services and replaces traditional delivery systems such as courier and postal mail; 39 hospitals in Indiana are sending approximately 2.8 million messages each month to more than 10,000 Indiana physicians. More than 50 million messages have been sent since its inception. It was developed by the Regenstrief Institute and is run in conjunction with IHIE.

“We’re very pleased to be partnering with St. Joseph Hospital in this community-based clinical messaging service,” stated James P. Alender, president & CEO, Howard Regional Health System. “By electronically delivering test results and other clinical information securely and efficiently, we are taking an important step in improving patient care and safety.”

Howard Regional Health System is an independent, county-owned two-hospital healthcare system located in Howard County, Indiana (Kokomo) with outpatient locations in Peru, Tipton, Frankfort, and Greentown. St. Joseph Hospital is part of the St. Vincent Health System, which is an 18- ministry system serving 45 Indiana counties and is one of IHIE’s charter members.

“As a member of St. Vincent Health and Ascension Health, St. Joseph Hospital is committed to providing safe and effective care to our patients,” said Kathy Young, MS, FACHE, president, St. Joseph Hospital. “We are excited to be on the forefront with Howard Regional Health System as the Indiana Health Information Exchange’s DOCS4DOCS program is launched. This program will allow both hospitals to assist in streamlining the healthcare patients receive. We will be better equipped to deliver quality information at the most critical time, when patients are receiving care in our hospitals.”

ARRA Health IT Funding and IHIE In order to expand IHIE to all hospitals throughout the state and beyond Indiana’s borders, the Indiana Health Information Exchange and partner organizations BioCrossroads, Regenstrief Institute, Mergetics and others are currently working on a collaborative effort to identify the opportunities within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009’s Health IT allocation of $2 billion.

As the country’s epicenter of health IT, Indiana is well-positioned to advance other health IT components of the ARRA, including workforce training, research, data programming, aggregation and analytical tools. All these components are necessary for a national system to succeed.

About the Indiana Health Information Exchange Indiana Health Information Exchange, Inc.
(IHIE) is a non-profit corporation formed by the Regenstrief Institute, private hospitals, local and state health departments, BioCrossroads, the state’s life sciences initiative, and other prominent organizations in Indiana. IHIE is the nation’s most respected health information exchange organizations and one of the nation’s only health information exchange organizations providing chronic disease and preventive health services (www.qualityhealthfirst.org). It is dedicated to supporting communities by providing services that enable the right medical information to get to the right provider at the right time to enhance patient care. To learn more, visit www.ihie.org.