Houston, TX (PRWEB) March 31, 2015 -- St. Joseph Medical Center (SJMC) has added its name to a growing network of leading healthcare systems, major physician groups and health plans all cooperating to share vital patient information for the benefit of patients. The health information exchange provides immediate access to a longitudinal health record, that supports well coordinated care throughout the continuum of services a patient receives.
St. Joseph has a long tradition of providing services to a broad cross section of the Houston community. Mark Bernard, SJMC’s CEO, reflected on the importance of Healthconnect to their patients, “ We have been serving Houstonians since 1887 and we take our stewardship and public trust very seriously. With Healthconnect we are able to extend our impact beyond the point of discharge so our patients may rest assured their vital information can follow them wherever they go. And our emergency room team can better ensure patient safety by viewing prior information about a patient’s existing health status, medications and allergies. It’s an important new service available to the St. Joseph community.”
Houston’s community health services providers and federally qualified health centers are also excited about SJMC membership in the network. Katy Caldwell, CEO of Legacy Community Health Services, and a Healthconnect board member, underscored the importance of their membership, “The addition of St. Joseph to Healthconnect’s care coordination network will improve quality of care for Legacy’s patients. For example, a large number of our patients deliver their babies at St. Joseph each month. Using Healthconnect, St. Joe’s admitting staff can easily access critical health information about our moms to ensure continuity and the best possible outcomes. In turn, Legacy clinicians will be able to provide appropriate follow up care with the integration of the hospital record into our own EHR system, including the baby’s birth weight and any post partum care instructions.”
Nick Bonvino, Healthconnect’s CEO remarked, “This is a real win for patient care. We welcome St. Joseph and are pleased to assist their caregivers in providing coordinated care across our community.” St. Joseph is the second IASIS hospital to join Healthconnect, following its sister facility, the Medical Center of South East Texas in Port Arthur. In the Beaumont-Port Arthur area all hospitals are live in the network and exchanging patient information.
As Texas’s largest community HIE, Healthconnect has been operational since 2012, providing clinicians access to millions of patient records. In addition to a patient query exchange, the organization also supports sharing of medical images and Direct Messaging through the Direct Trust Bundle.
About Greater Houston Healthconnect
Greater Houston Healthconnect is an independent, community-based organization enabling interoperability among healthcare providers in Southeast Texas. Its mission is to exchange health records and diagnostic images electronically across organizations to enhance the quality, safety, and efficiency of care for all patients throughout the region. Key stakeholders include healthcare providers, payers, employers and the community as a whole. For more information, visit http://www.ghhconnect.org/.
Robin Mansur, Greater Houston Healthconnect, http://ghhconnect.org, +1 (832) 564-2599, [email protected]
SOURCE Greater Houston Healthconnect
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