Global eHIE system to provide medication histories to Inova Alexandria physicians

When the Northern Virginia Regional Health Information Organization (NoVaRHIO) goes live with its first major step towards an full scale interoperable eHealth Information Exchange (eHIE) connecting patients and physicians across the region, it will leverage GE Healthcare as a key infrastructure partner.

“GE Healthcare is a vital business partner in our initiative to improve patient care in Northern Virginia”

At an event in Alexandria, Va. Monday morning, GE Healthcare's global eHealth Solutions leadership described and demonstrated the Global eHIE system which will provide medication histories to Inova Alexandria physicians for their estimated 5,000 monthly Emergency Department (ED) patients. GE Healthcare will provide data directly into the electronic medical record (EMR) systems and specialty care applications currently deployed in the Inova Alexandria ED. GE Healthcare's Global eHIE will enable community-wide data to be fully integrated into provider workflow and is expected to be online this year.

Though the initial agreement serves the Alexandria ED alone, the plans provide for eventual expansion to other Inova EDs as well as to the EDs of other NoVaRHIO hospital system partners.

This morning's announcement represents the first phase of GE Healthcare's eHealth plan for the region, for which the business is partnering with leading provider organizations such as Inova Health System. The project is funded in part by a generous grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"Medication history is really just the first step," explained Earl Jones, Vice President and General Manager of GE Healthcare's eHealth business. "Next, we'll expand the types and sources of clinical information and turn it into actionable data embedding it into the clinician workflow. GE will continue to drive the kind of innovation that has characterized our company since its beginning and prove our overall solutions leadership with our eHIE to EMR workflow integration. Our company heritage, technology and customer focus provide the reliability that northern Virginia requires."

"GE Healthcare is a vital business partner in our initiative to improve patient care in Northern Virginia," said Philip Reilly, Chairman of the NoVaRHIO board. "We believe that from a product perspective GE delivers the greatest value today and, long-term, we're confident they will continue innovating as the industry changes and develops. We know GE Healthcare eHealth will support our efforts to develop a sustainable model that supports the care of patients throughout northern Virginia."

Source : GE Healthcare