GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  – Munson Healthcare’s eight northern Michigan hospitals can securely and efficiently exchange patient information with medical providers across the state, thanks to a partnership with Michigan Health Connect, the state’s largest provider of health information exchange.

The partnership means that Southeast Michigan residents visiting northern Michigan, for example, can have their medical records available electronically at any Munson facility, should they require medical treatment.

“Adding Munson to our statewide network ensures that northern Michigan residents and visitors benefit from the enhanced care that comes with the efficient, secure transfer of electronic medical records,” said Doug Dietzman, executive director of Michigan Health Connect. “Timely, well-informed care makes all the difference for patients.”

Munson’s northern Michigan hospitals are: Charlevoix Area Hospital (Charlevoix), Kalkaska Memorial Health Center (Kalkaska), Mercy Hospital Cadillac (Cadillac), Mercy Hospital Grayling (Grayling), Munson Medical Center (Traverse City), Otsego Memorial Hospital (Gaylord), Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital (Frankfort) and West Shore Medical Center (Manistee).

“Munson Healthcare already offers a continuum of health care services to people from 24 counties across northern Michigan, and this partnership with Michigan Health Connect in effect extends our reach statewide,” said Ryan Winn, director of information systems for Munson Healthcare. “The ability to receive and deliver complete medical records almost immediately means our physicians and medical professionals can provide the very best care possible.”

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  – North Ottawa Community Health System in Grand Haven and Mecosta County Medical Center in Big Rapids are now serving their patients with state-of-the-art health information exchange (HIE), via Michigan Health Connect.

As members of Michigan Health Connect, the state’s largest provider of HIE, the two hospitals can send patients’ health records and reports through a secure electronic network that includes 57 other hospitals, 1,551 medical offices and more than 7,000 individual health care providers statewide.

“Connectivity is essential to make the health care system in Michigan work more effectively and more efficiently for patients and providers,” said Doug Dietzman, executive director of Michigan Health Connect. “When health care providers receive timely, complete patient information, they can deliver better care as cost-effectively as possible.”

Mecosta County Medical Center is using the system to connect its hospital offices with its long-term care facility.

“For older patients and those with debilitating chronic conditions, it’s vital to transfer their complete medical record as fast as possible,” said Mike Miller, director of information technology at the Mecosta County Medical Center. “We can attain that kind of speed, accuracy and security as members of Michigan Health Connect.”

In Grand Haven, North Ottawa Community Health System will be connecting to dozens of physicians in the community.

“Patients today see more than one physician, often in various locations,” said Joe Abbott, director of information systems at North Ottawa Community Health System. “Michigan Health Connect ensures that no matter where our patients seek care – whether inside our continuum of care in Grand Haven or beyond – their health record can be accessed.”

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  - November 13, 2012 – More than 1,000 physicians in 441 practices across Michigan have joined Michigan Health Connect (MHC) and are using Medicity’s iNexx Referrals app to automate health care referrals for patients. The process helps deliver pertinent patient information quickly, completely and securely.

“The iNexx Referrals app eliminates a significant workflow bottleneck for physician practices,” said Doug Dietzman, executive director of Michigan Health Connect. “It gets rid of the manual process of completing a paper referral form, faxing it and then trading calls with the other physician’s office to make sure it arrived.

“Perhaps most important for patients, the automated system guarantees that their complete medical information and test results arrive in a timely manner,” Dietzman said.

Once physicians start using the app, they encourage their referring partners to adopt iNexx and join their eReferral network. The app is free to physician practices. It’s widely used by primary care providers, specialists, homecare providers, behavioral health organizations and community clinics.

“I no longer have to wait for my staff to trade phone calls and faxes while patients wait to be seen,” said Dr. Brian Stork, M.D., a urologist at West Shore Urology in Muskegon. “By providing access to information before a patient comes in to see me, iNexx Referrals has helped me provide faster and safer care.  Plus, I can make sure patients have the education and preparation materials they need before they come into the office, which boosts patient satisfaction.”

Primary care physicians and specialists are sending approximately 4,000 referrals per month using this process.

The 422 physician practices that have joined Michigan Health Connect are located in 76 cities and 32 counties, ranging from Grand Rapids (Kent County) and Muskegon (Muskegon County) in West Michigan to Port Huron (St. Clair County) on the east side.  They represent more than 1,000 physicians and 242 specialties.

About Michigan Health Connect

Michigan Health Connect is the largest provider of health information exchange in Michigan, serving 55 hospitals, 1,265 medical offices and more than 4,000 individual providers statewide. The nationally recognized, community-based nonprofit works to enhance patient care by improving access to timely, secure clinical information while streamlining administrative functions for providers. For more information see www.MichiganHealthConnect.org

About Medicity

Medicity, the industry standard for health information exchange (HIE), is the leading innovator and largest provider of HIE technology – with more than 800 hospitals and 250,000 physicians in its connected ecosystem. Medicity’s solutions empower hospitals, physicians and HIEs with secure access to and exchange of health information – improving the quality and efficiency of patient care locally, regionally and nationally. For more information, please visit http://www.medicity.com or follow us on twitter.com/medicity.

November 12, 2012, Grand Rapids, MI and Carrollton, GA – Michigan Health Connect (MHC), Michigan’s largest provider of health information exchange, and Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., today announced an agreement to provide large-scale integrated health system data exchange for physician practices utilizing Greenway’s electronic health record (EHR), practice management and interoperability solution PrimeSUITE®.

Michigan physicians utilizing PrimeSUITE can seamlessly exchange information with any participating hospital that feeds data into Michigan Health Connect, providing connectivity of clinical results data instantly and securely.

“With Greenway’s ability to develop a hub-to-hub connection leading to the growth of participation in the Michigan Health Connect program, patients across the state will benefit from more collaborative and cost effective care,” said Doug Dietzman, executive director of Michigan Health Connect. “Ever-expanding data exchange platforms also aid healthcare providers in meeting the criteria and goals of care coordination inventive programs such as meaningful use.”

Michigan Health Connect currently includes 52 member hospitals and more than 4,000 physicians across Michigan delivering more than 820,000 results per month.

“As reliable, standards-based data exchange becomes paramount for care coordination, we are pleased to be among the collaborative partners of Michigan Health Connect committed to providing scalable solutions throughout the region,” said Justin Barnes, Greenway® vice president and board member of the global data exchange and transport standards organization Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE-USA). “This partnership with Michigan Health Connect provides the means for impacting patient outcomes and furthers the eventuality of a national health information network.”

About Michigan Health Connect

Nationally recognized Michigan Health Connect, the state’s largest provider of health information exchange, works to enhance patient care by improving access to timely, secure clinical information while streamlining administrative functions for providers. More information about the community-based nonprofit, including a list of member hospitals and providers, is available at www.MichiganHealthConnect.org.   

About Greenway and PrimeSUITE

Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: GWAY) delivers smarter solutions for smarter healthcare^™. PrimeSUITE ^® — Greenway’s certified and fully integrated electronic health record, practice management and interoperability solution — helps improve care coordination, quality and cost-efficiency as part of a smarter, sustainable healthcare system. Thousands of providers across 30 specialties and sub-specialties use on-premise or cloud-based Greenway^® solutions in physician practices, clinics and health systems. To learn more, go to greenwaymedical.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or email info@greenwaymedical.com.

July 16, 2012 – Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills has joined Michigan Health Connect, a Grand Rapids-based health information exchange that now has 54 of the state’s 134 medical-surgical hospitals as members.

Four other health systems and 18 hospitals in Southeast Michigan have joined Michigan Health Connect in the past two years: Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, St. John Providence Health System in Warren, McLaren Health Care in Flint and Novi-based Trinity Health.

“We are moving to a population health management structure and are interested in reducing costs and improving quality for our patients,” said Paul LaCasse, D.O., CEO of Botsford Health Care, the hospital’s parent company.

“We need decision support services and the ability to pass information between entities. We are well under way with electronic medical record systems at Botsford. We need the exchange to pass that information to other providers.”

Initially, about 110 physicians will use the exchange, with an additional 500 on their way to installing electronic medical records, LaCasse said.

Doug Dietzman, Michigan Health’s executive director, said many other hospitals in the state have discussed joining the exchange but are not ready because they haven’t completed installation of their electronic medical record systems.

“The secure exchange of medical records ensures quality and cost control while improving the efficiency of health care providers across the state,” he said.  Read the full story here.