Caritas Christi Health Care is deploying Microsoft Amalga and HealthVault to transform its ability to deliver healthcare in the community, according to the health system's chief technology officer.
Technology will integrate all the areas of care in the community to deliver a "cradle-to-grave" paradigm and care system, said Todd Rothenhaus, MD, CIO of Caritas Christi.
Caritas Christi, the largest community-based health system in Massachusetts, wanted to develop customer relationship management with its patients by monitoring their health during and in-between visits, and identifying health issues for intervention. Caritas Christi also wanted to deploy analytics to better understand patient data.
Microsoft's Amalga will enable Caritas Christi to aggregate and display patient data from multiple sources. The unified health enterprise platform will connect the hospital with the patient's referring physicians, pharmacy, radiology, lab and other healthcare providers, said Craig Feied, MD, chief healthcare strategy officer for Microsoft Health Solutions Group.
"The first big payoff is getting situational awareness of what's happening in the community," he said. Amalga will enable the health system to see patterns over time across patients, which will not only help improve patient management but track Caritas Christi's operational processes.
The deployment of HealthVault's personal health record will encourage patient interaction with physicians, as well as help Caritas Christi understand the care being delivered to their patients by other physicians, Rothenhaus said. Connecting patients through the HealthVault PHR will keep the data flowing and bridge gaps in care between hospital and home, said Feied.
"Caritas Christi is creating a new community-based model of care that is integrated with the hospital system," Feied said. Expanding the highest quality of care can only be achieved by investing in IT, he said.
"The right technology at the right time for the right care can really transform the quality of care," Feied said.
