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Brooklyn Health Information Exchange Selects Initiate Systems to Achieve Single, Accurate View of Patients

Posted on: Monday, 4 February 2008, 09:01 CST

The Brooklyn Health Information Exchange (BHIX) -- a not-for-profit regional health information organization (RHIO) -- has selected Initiate Patient™ software from Initiate Systems, Inc., as the foundational technology for locating, linking and matching of patient records. Initiate Patient is the high-performing enterprise master person index (EMPI) software application from Initiate Systems, a leader in master data management solutions. BHIX, comprised of several healthcare provider and payer organizations in New York, will offer health information exchange services in Brooklyn, New York's most populated borough.

Initiate's technology will help BHIX create the foundational master person index, enabling patient identity resolution and linking of patients across multiple sources of data. Once a patient is uniquely identified and linked, Initiate Patient will also facilitate a portal application and Record Locator Service's ability to search and establish context on a patient. Care teams will thus share a single, accurate view of any patient participating in BHIX.

The timely and accurate sharing of information will help physicians focus on disease management across the continuum of care for persons with complex, chronic diseases. It will help in the development of patient-specific, joint-care plans that will minimize the number of visits and procedures for patients, as well as enable medication management and more effective and safe utilization of healthcare resources.

"This is a pragmatic, real-world implementation of technology and cooperation between healthcare organizations totally committed to the benefits of shared electronic health records," said Irene Koch, executive director of the Brooklyn Health Information Exchange. "We serve a large, diverse and aging population. The precision and speed we gain through electronic records, for even the basics, like known medications and allergies, will result in substantial improvements in providing care."

"There is real progress to be made in acquiring and securing the critical data necessary for our success, and we will leave no physician behind," said Walter Fahey, vice president and CIO for Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn and technical advisor to BHIX. "We are building a better healthcare system and providing the groundwork for the eventual interoperability between BHIX and the other established RHIOs in the State of New York."

"The Brooklyn Health Information Exchange is unique in terms of the personal commitment we've observed from everyone involved from day one," said Lorraine Fernandes, vice president, Healthcare Practice at Initiate Systems. "It is exciting to lend our expertise to this dedicated team and to know that our technology will help the Brooklyn exchange better serve its community."

The Brooklyn Health Information Exchange is expected to be operating by late July 2008 and will encompass the Maimonides Medical Center; Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center; Rutland Nursing Home; Elderplan; First to Care Home Care; MJCG Home Care; Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric Center; Shorefront Jewish Geriatric Center and Home Care; Sephardic Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; Visiting Nurse Service of New York; and the 1199 SEIU National Benefit Funds.

A case study of the BHIX will be presented by Irene Koch and Walter Fahey during the HIMSS Conference in Orlando, Florida at 11:00 AM, Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at the Initiate Systems booth, #5549.

About Initiate Systems

Initiate Systems, Inc. enables organizations to strategically leverage and share critical data assets. Its Master Data Management (MDM) software and experience as an information exchange leader provide organizations with complete, accurate and real-time views of data spread across multiple systems or databases, even outside the firewall. This allows companies to unlock the value of their data assets for competitive advantages or operational improvements. Initiate Systems operates globally through its subsidiaries, with corporate headquarters in Chicago and offices across the U.S., and Toronto, London and Sydney. For more information, visit www.InitiateSystems.com.

Source: Business Wire

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