Industry News

Iowa Health System Selects Medicity Technology to Give Community Health Care Providers Secure Access to Patient Health Information

Exchanging patient summary documents will give physicians more complete views of patient health information, improving patient care and safety

SALT LAKE CITY -August 8, 2011- Medicity announced today that Iowa Health System will use Medicity health information exchange (HIE) technology to make patient health information securely available to care providers in the communities it serves. Iowa Health System (IHS) is the state's largest integrated health system serving nearly one third of all patients in Iowa. Medicity's HIE technology will enable physicians at IHS hospitals and clinics to access and exchange patient information in the form of patient summary documents. These documents - known as continuity of care documents (CCDs) - provide a consolidated summary of a patient's care history, including medications, allergies, vital signs, care plan, insurance information and more. Physicians and other providers can use their electronic health record (EHR) or other information system to request and view these documents via the Iowa Health System health information exchange. "We want to ensure that all physicians have access to patient information to improve collaboration, especially as patients transition from one care provider to another," said Iowa Health System Chief Information Officer Joy Grosser. "Extending secure access to patient summary documents across the community is key to improving patient care and raising the bar for clinical excellence." The HIE will first implement the exchange of patient summary documents between IHS' Epic clinical systems and more than 100 owned clinics that use the Allscripts electronic health record. IHS and Medicity will then extend the data exchange to include the health system's affiliated physicians, home health, long-term care facilities and other allied health organizations. These connections will allow IHS to perform in-depth analytics for quality improvement, develop population-based health management programs, connect to the state HIE, and engage members through a patient portal. "The ability to access patient health summaries will give physicians visibility into all the health care services a patient receives - from primary and specialty care to hospital and emergency services," explained Brent Dover, president of Medicity. "This secure access to patient information will enhance clinical decision-making and improve the continuity of care delivered to the members of Iowa Health System's community."

About Iowa Health System
With annual revenues of $2.3 billion, IHS has relationships with 25 hospitals in Illinois and Iowa, employs nearly 20,000 employees and sees more than 2.5 million patient visits per year.

The seven senior affiliates of IHS are: Iowa Health - Des Moines; Allen Health Systems, Inc. (Waterloo, Iowa); Finley Tri-States Health Group, Inc. (Dubuque, Iowa); St. Luke's Health System, Inc. (Sioux City, Iowa); St. Luke's Healthcare (Cedar Rapids, Iowa); Trinity Health Systems, Inc. (Fort Dodge, Iowa); and Trinity Regional Health System (Rock Island, Illinois).

Over the years, IHS hospitals have received national recognition for quality, service and patient satisfaction, including the Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence, Top 100 Heart Hospital designation, HealthGrades Patient Safety Award, Gold Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence, and more. Currently, 63 communities are served by more than 140 IHS physician clinics. IHS also includes three accredited colleges of nursing and/or allied health fields and more than 600 employed physicians. For more information, visit http://www.ihs.org/. About Medicity Medicity is the leading innovator and largest provider of health information exchange (HIE) technology - with more than 750 hospitals and 250,000 end users 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 www.medicity.com or follow us on twitter.com/Medicity.

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Contacts
Amendola Communications for Medicity                              
Janet Cabibbo
480-664-8412 ext. 15                                        
jcabibbo@acmarketingpr.com