Boulder Medical Center Joins CORHIO Health Information Exchange, Enhancing Care Coordination For Area Patients

DENVER, Aug. 6, 2014--More than 70 providers at the Boulder Medical Center, a multispecialty group that also operates an urgent care clinic, are now using health information exchange, in addition to an advanced electronic medical record system, to coordinate care for more than 200,000 annual patient visits.Through CORHIO's secure electronic network, Boulder Medical Center doctors are now receiving laboratory results from hospitals and labs around the state without having to wait for faxes or other paper-based methods of communication. This is reducing patient wait times, helping doctors make faster and more accurate clinical decisions, and saving staff time previously spent tracking down patients' medical records.

All three office locations of Boulder Medical Center have connected with the health information exchange (HIE) facilitated by CORHIO, including two locations in Boulder and a third in Louisville on the Avista Adventist Hospital campus. The busy doctors see many students, Boulder and Louisville residents, travelers and others from around the state, so having access to accurate medical information is essential for patient care coordination.

One example from Dr. Jack Imig, medical director at Boulder Medical Center, shows the usefulness of this information. "A patient who had pelvic pain, and had been to the emergency room, didn't know what was going on exactly or the specific explanation for it," he said. "With the HIE, I'm able to hit a button and see her urine culture, and it tells me the exact organisms and numbers. So I'm able to say 'A-ha, here's what you had, so we need to get you on another antibiotic so this can be taken care of quickly.' To have that information available in the moment markedly improves care."

In an emergency situation, being able to quickly access electronic patient medical information is also vital. Patients, who might be students or travelers new to the area, sometimes don't have a history with Boulder Medical Center or nearby Boulder Community and Avista Adventist hospitals. So the doctors don't know if patients might have a medication allergy, for example. "When a patient shows up at our urgent care and they don't have a history with us, it's best for their care if their health history is in a central place," said David Glow, EMR project manager at Boulder Medical Center. "The HIE has completely changed the way we care for patients."

"With Boulder Medical Center joining the CORHIO network, approximately half of practicing physicians in Boulder County are now participating in HIE," said Morgan Honea, executive director of the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO). "All four hospitals in the area are also participating. This makes Boulder County one of the most technologically advanced communities in the entire country when it comes to health care information systems."

About CORHIO
CORHIO is dedicated to improving health care quality for all Coloradans through health information technology and health information exchange (HIE). As the state-designated entity for HIE, CORHIO collaborates with all health care stakeholders including physicians, hospitals, clinics, public health, long-term care, laboratories, health plans, patients and the Quality Health Network to improve care collaboration through secure systems and processes for sharing clinical information. CORHIO is a not-for-profit supported in part by grants, including awards from the Colorado Health Foundation and from federal ARRA HITECH funds. CORHIO's technical infrastructure is built on industry-leading HIE technology developed and maintained by Medicity. For more information about CORHIO, please visit www.corhio.org.

CORHIO MEDIA CONTACT:
Christine Baker
(720) 285-3246
cbaker@corhio.org