Hartford HealthCare, a Connecticut-based accountable care organization (ACO), has chosen the AccessAnyWare document management solution from Streamline Health to move away from paper-based processes.
According to Luis Taveras, Hartford HealthCare's CIO and senior VP, the organization has to advance its processes so that documents can be accessed within the electronic medical record (EMR).
Thanks to Streamline's products, doctors will be able to access patient records within the EMR through a single user interface. The solution will integrate online chart completion, records management and other paper documents within the EMR system, creating a more integrated enterprise workflow.
AccessAnyWare allows medical providers to work from any location thanks to multi-layer HIPAA-compliant access to patient records. The solution logs all information that is accessed and any actions taken regarding patient health information. Also, online auditing at the medical record number (MRN), encounter or visit level provides quick answers to patient questions.
Hartford HealthCare expects the solution to increase patient safety, cut operating expenses and improve quality of care. "The additional cost savings that we will achieve with the SaaS delivery model will be an added benefit to the entire organization," said Taveras.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently designated Hartford HealthCare as one of its 106 named ACOs. An ACO is a joint venture combining physicians and other Medicare service providers, along with their facilities, under a single umbrella. ACOs receive Medicare payments based on their success at achieving patient care goals.
To be designated as an ACO, organizations have to care for at least 5,000 Medicare patients within a three-year timespan. They must also be headed by a governing board including Medicare patients, healthcare suppliers and patient care providers.
Overall, the Affordable Care Act created ACO eligibility as a way to encourage more coordinated patient care and record sharing. The idea is that placing multiple providers under a single ACO banner will enable better organization and efficiency, which will hopefully mean better patient care.
Robert E. Watson, president and CEO of Streamline Health, states that AccessAnyWare is crucial for helping ACOs like Hartford HealthCare meet their information management goals.
"Once integrated with their EHR, our solutions will help facilitate communication between the disparate departments and information systems within their organization to improve coordination of care, a key performance measure for an ACO," Watson explained.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein
