CommonWell rolls out IT connectivity nationwide in interoperability push
CommonWell Health Alliance, a not-for-profit trade association of healthcare and technology organizations, has advanced its connection to the Carequality Framework to increase health IT connectivity nationwide.
The connection helped bilaterally exchange more than 200,000 documents between CommonWell-enabled providers and Carequality-enabled providers locally and nationwide since it went live in July.
The Carequality Framework––which facilitates consensus and enables interoperable exchange between health data sharing networks and services––is now generally available to CommonWell members across some of the largest participating EHR vendors, which could improve care coordination and delivery.
Interoperability has consistently been identified as an issue to advancement in care coordination and as a major focus in shifting toward value-based care.
“We are proud to break down yet another barrier to interoperability by making this much-anticipated connection available to our members and their clients,” Jitin Asnaani, CommonWell Health Alliance executive director, said in a statement. “This increased connectivity will serve to empower providers with access to patient health data critical to their health care decision-making."
Cerner and Greenway Health, members of CommonWell, have completed a rollout of the connection with some of their provider clients using the technology infrastructure built by CommonWell’s service provider Change Healthcare, according to an announcement. Brightree, Evident and MEDITECH are underway with their rollouts.
"We are now able to integrate new medications and problems into our EHR seamlessly, which provides the most accurate and up-to-date information possible,” said Michael Donnenwerth, DPM, podiatry specialist at Winona Health, a Cerner client located in Winona, Minnesota, said in a statement. “This flow of information has not only connected our medical records, but it has allowed us to truly provide better care as the ambiguity of outside doctor visits has been virtually eliminated.”
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."