The North Hawaii Community Hospital, the Hawaii IPA, independent physicians, and some of the region's leading payers and trading partners are building a connected health care community.
The organizations are using health information exchange technology and portals from Cambridge, Mass.-based Wellogic, along with HCL's implementation and operations services. The North Hawaii exchange (NHHIE) aims to enable better management of transitions in care and tackle problems caused by gaps in care. The effort will adopt many aspects of accountable care and patient centered medical home management models. John White, North Hawaii Community Hospital's CEO, and William Park, MD, chief of staff and general surgeon, say the project will establish a scalable model that can be replicated across the state and nation.
"This is a grassroots effort to make available, for the first time, a wealth of clinical information to patients and their physicians at the point of care,” said Park. “ Leveraging information technology to connect all the Big Island physicians, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and insurance companies is essential to this effort." “We hope to demonstrate that a united community with the right partners can improve the quality and safety of patient care in a measurable and significant way,” White said.
“I am convinced that the addition of Wellogic's health information exchange and health record system to North Hawaii and other medical practices across Hawaii will have a profoundly positive impact for the care of our people," said Hawaii State Sen. Josh Green, who is a practicing emergency room doctor and director of Hawaii IPA Director.
