HealthLink RHIO Selects HTP MedRunner™ Health Information Exchange Software

MedRunner to expand capabilities of HealthLink RHIO's technology platform.

Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) February 27, 2007-- HTP, Inc., a leading developer of software for the healthcare industry, today announced that the Dayton, Ohio-based HealthLink RHIO has selected HTP MedRunner™ to support the electronic exchange of administrative data for members of its Regional Health Information Organization.

"We are excited that HealthLink RHIO has chosen HTP MedRunner as a tool in its mission to increase healthcare access for area residents," said HTP President and CEO Ray Shealy. "The need for RHIOs to achieve financial sustainability is creating a growing interest in HTP's approach, which in full implementation combines both administrative and clinical data exchange in a unified system. Our mission is to support RHIOs in improving quality of care for patients and in developing a sound financial foundation to sustain ongoing growth."

Initially developed as a network platform for the Utah Health Information Network (UHIN), HTP MedRunner™ offers the most complete solution for electronic healthcare information exchange. It supplies a single, secure connection point to exchange clinical and administrative data directly, in real-time, among all members of a given healthcare community. It is currently being used by more than 7,000 physicians in the state of Utah, and its adoption by UHIN has contributed to holding healthcare costs across that state to 25 percent below the national average.

Housed at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, HealthLink RHIO offers its member organizations access to an electronic shared community health record through the university's patent-pending Web-based HIEx™ (HealthLink Information Exchange) system. Its database houses records for over 27,000 individuals and 10,000 households. Under the agreement, HIEx™ will integrate HTP Med Runner™ into this standards-based clinical application, which will allow member organizations real-time access to payer eligibility information.

"A key factor in our selection of HTP MedRunner™ was its established track record of delivering cost savings while promoting efficiency and quality-of-care improvements," said Kate Cauley, director of the Center for Healthy Communities and the HealthLink RHIO. "We were also impressed by its open-architecture design, which integrates seamlessly with HIEx™ to create a fully interoperable solution for securely exchanging all types of healthcare information. It's great to have an Ohio-based company partnering with an Ohio university to improve quality of care for Ohioans."

Built to the Continuity of Care Record standard, HIEx™ has evolved from a registry of uninsured patients to include tracking of referrals, household demographics, scanned documents, and patient centric clinical information in a central data repository.

HIEx™ has also pioneered inclusion of the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Metathesaurus as the conceptual glue for the CCR offering clinical decision support and integrating clinical and administrative data. This record is used by nurses in the public schools, physicians in safety net clinics and disaster preparedness organizations. Social service and health care professionals access different views of the record based on their defined roles, insuring protection of person health information.

Integrating HTP MedRunner™ with the central data repository developed through HealthLink RHIO provides a powerful new model for health information exchange. Through the combination of HTP MedRunner™ and HIEx™, providers throughout the community will now have the ability to access insurance eligibility, medications, immunizations, diagnoses and procedures and other clinical and administrative information via a secure Web portal. Implementation of HTP MedRunner™ is expected to be complete within two months.

About HealthLink RHIO

HealthLink RHIO is a coalition of local organizations working to better integrate health and human services for underserved members of its community. Housed at Wright State University's Center for Healthy Communities, HealthLink RHIO operates a community-wide health information network supported by its patent-pending HIEx™ system. HealthLink RHIO has been recognized by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio and Research Triangle Institute (RTI) as one of two RHIOs in Ohio currently exchanging health information across organizations.

For more information on how HealthLink promotes universal access value-driven health care to residents of the Greater Dayton Region, visit www.med.wright.edu/HealthLink or call 937-775-1114.

About HTP, Inc.

HTP develops award-winning software that improves efficiency, profitability and patient satisfaction for hospitals, insurance companies, managed care organizations, third-party administrators and Regional Health Information Organizations. HTP software is used by 227 hospitals and 25 health plans in 25 states. Notable customers include Ohio Medicaid, The Midland Group, OhioHealth, Redlands Community Hospital, Condell Medical Center, The Ohio State University Medical Center and the Utah Health Information Network -- the nation's first successful RHIO.

For more information on HTP or to learn how its software is transforming healthcare information exchange for providers, payers and RHIOs, call 888.487.8010 or go to www.htp-inc.com.

HTP Inc. Media/Industry Analyst Contacts:

Cheryl Claypoole

Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations

Tel: 614.825.1721

Rob Krohn

HTP Inc.

Tel: 614.396.4537

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