Electronic Health Record Bank for Louisville consumers will improve healthcare quality, contain costs
The Louisville Health Information Exchange (LouHIE) has selected 3M Health Information Systems to provide the electronic health record banking system and interoperability solution to enable health information exchange across the greater Louisville area. 3M and its partner, InterComponentWare, Inc. (ICW), will design, build, and pilot an integrated health information network that will offer free health record banking services to all 1.2 million citizens in the greater Louisville community. The parties will be negotiating a definitive agreement.
“LouHIE will work closely with Kentucky state officials working on statewide health information exchange,” said Steve Beshear, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. “The state is excited about the opportunity to collaborate with LouHIE, 3M, ICW, and the Louisville area leaders in creating Kentucky’s e-health research laboratory for the nation.” Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson added, “Louisville has been working on an electronic health data network for three years now—and we can be a national model for how to implement the system.”
When implemented, the LouHIE initiative will enable consumers to store and manage their patient data in a private and secure personal health record bank. Each bank account will contain an electronic copy of an individual’s health records, consolidated from the various clinics, hospitals, and physician practices where the individual received care. Each individual will control his/her health record bank information and will be able to choose to make the complete record available to providers at healthcare facilities in the greater Louisville area or access their own record via the internet. The LouHIE project is expected to be a model for other cities, regions, and states that want to create health information exchanges (HIEs) based on a centralized health record bank.
For this project, 3M will deliver a highly scalable, interoperable system that includes the 3M™ Clinical Data Repository, 3M™ Enterprise Master Person Index, and 3M™ Healthcare Data Dictionary. ICW will provide the interoperability layer, consumer/physician portal with the ICW Professional Suite, and the personal health record, LifeSensor®.
Sheila Andersen, Chair of the LouHIE Board of Directors, explains why the combined 3M and ICW solution was selected: “The advanced technology provided by 3M and ICW makes it possible to achieve the highest level of data interoperability, which is essential to translating and consolidating patient information from diverse computer systems and healthcare facilities into a central health record bank. It also allows a high degree of patient privacy and information security, which are two of our top priorities.”
“We are very excited to partner with LouHIE in this groundbreaking initiative,” said Marvin Johnson, Senior Vice President, 3M Health Information Systems. “We’ll bring the knowledge and experience we’ve gained from diverse HIE implementations, including Maine’s statewide HealthInfoNet exchange and the Department of Defense’s large-scale clinical data repository with quick response capability, to support the Louisville community in improving healthcare quality and patient safety.”
Jeremy Coote, CEO of ICW, adds, “LouHIE promises to set an example for the dozens of other states crafting their HIE strategies. ICW is pleased to bring its eHealth infrastructure experience from implementations across Europe to the U.S. LouHIE understands well the need to engage consumers in their health and LifeSensor® will greatly help them to achieve this objective.”
LouHIE is a nonprofit corporation based in Louisville, Kentucky. LouHIE was formed in 2006 and is governed by a multi-stakeholder board of directors representing consumers, employers, insurance companies, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, public health, physicians, nurses and others.
About 3M Health Information Systems
3M Health Information Systems delivers comprehensive software and consulting services to help organizations worldwide improve documentation, quality, and financial performance across the healthcare continuum. 3M offers integrated solutions for transcription, speech recognition, clinical documentation improvement, documentation management, computer-assisted coding, quality, and revenue cycle management, effectively meeting the industry’s changing needs. With 25 years of healthcare experience and expertise, 3M works as a trusted and stable business partner to provide reliable implementation, training, and support services. For more information about 3M Health Information Systems products and services, visit www.3Mhis.com or call 800-367-2447.
About InterComponentWare, Inc. (ICW)
ICW delivers a highly secure and interoperable eHealth infrastructure and a wide-range of end-user applications for healthcare professionals and their patients. Its technology enables organizations to extend their existing information systems, connect with diverse systems and create a secure patient health record based on aggregate data. ICW and its partners develop solutions that make aggregated data an information asset capable of facilitating comprehensive care delivery decisions. ICW solutions have been successfully deployed throughout Europe and across North America, and can be found online at www.icw-global.com.
LifeSensor is a registered trademark of InterComponentWare, Inc.
3M is a trademark of 3M.
For 3M media inquiries:Mollie Houns, 952-920-6951Price Houns AssociatesorMichaela Toohey, 651-736-58633M Public Relations and Corporate CommunicationsorFor ICW inquiries:Anne Marie Heil, 610-933-8065InterComponentWare, Inc.Anne.marie.heil@icw-global.comorDirk Schuhmann, +49 (0) 6227 385 133InterComponentWare AGdirk.schuhmann@icw.de
