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Initiate Systems EMPI Powers RHIOs & NHINs, Helps Protect Privacy and Secure Information Exchange

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

Initiate Systems, Inc., the recognized standard in enterprise master person index (EMPI) software for the healthcare industry, today announced it is providing accurate patient identification capabilities to the most advanced regional and national health information networks. MA-SHARE is using Initiate(TM) software in its work with Connecting for Health, whose three-state prototype, announced in February, has linked approximately 20 million anonymized, clinically accurate medical records associated with 500,000 patients across networks in Massachusetts, Indiana and California.

"Accuracy of patient data is critical to the success of a national health information network," said John Halamka, CEO of MA-SHARE and an emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "Initiate Identity Hub(TM) software and its probabilistic algorithms provided us with the highest level of accuracy. Throughout the entire testing process, we never misidentified a patient."

MA-SHARE deployed a record locator service (RLS) developed by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) that used Initiate Identity Hub(TM) software to exchange information with other networks in Indiana and California. Information was exchanged through a decentralized, federated network that protected patient privacy and did not require a centralized clinical database or a national health identifier. Initiate(TM) software will also be used by MA-SHARE to securely exchange information in live clinical settings by the end of summer 2006.

The RLS is a core piece of technology that links patients' demographic identifying details and creates an index of where records are located, while preserving patient privacy by maintaining the actual clinical records in the hands of the institutions that produce or provide the patient care. This decentralized network, which allows patient data to be securely requested from remote locations, was built and tested over the last year.

CSC is building the clinical exchange infrastructure for MA-SHARE. The system is built on a service-oriented architecture and has two components -- the RLS and the gateway. The RLS enables central patient look-up, based on Initiate(TM) software, and the gateway provides peer-to-peer transfer of clinical data. "Integrating Initiate(TM) software into our infrastructure was fast and straightforward. We were literally up and running in six business days," said John Calladine, senior architect, CSC. "The performance and reliability of the system when doing demographic searches on our test database was impressive. It was truly interoperable in communicating with the Indiana and California regional data exchanges."

On April 6, 2006, Connecting for Health released its Common Framework: Resources for Implementing Private and Secure Health Information Exchange. The Common Framework materials, which are available for download at no cost at www.connectingforhealth.org, provide the initial elements of a comprehensive approach for secure, authorized and private health information sharing.

More than 600 Healthcare Customers Have Relied on Initiate Systems

More than 50 healthcare organizations have deployed Initiate Identity Hub(TM) software and more than 600 have relied on Initiate Systems for patient data quality remediation services. Initiate Identity Hub(TM) software is the most accurate, scalable and rapidly implemented EMPI solution available for healthcare providers, integrated delivery networks (IDN) and regional health information organizations (RHIO) that want to improve patient identification and customer satisfaction, protect data privacy and security, enable interoperability and provide a critical foundation for electronic health record (EHR) implementations. Initiate(TM) software and services enable strategic initiatives that allow healthcare organizations to improve patient safety and care, provide new services and ensure regulatory compliance.

For more information on Initiate Systems, visit www.initiatesystems.com. For more information on the Connecting for Health prototype, visit http://www.connectingforhealth.org/news/pressrelease_020806.html.

About Connecting for Health

Connecting for Health is committed to accelerating the development of a health information-sharing environment by bringing together an array of private, public, and not-for-profit groups to develop common standards and values. Connecting for Health also works to overcome the technical, financial, and policy barriers to bringing health care into the information age. As one of its first steps, Connecting for Health convened a group of leading government, industry, and health care experts, who have shaped and led the national debate on electronic clinical data standards. The group forged consensus on the adoption of an initial set of standards, developed case studies on privacy and security, and helped define the electronic personal health record. For more information, visit www.connectingforhealth.org.

About Initiate Systems

Initiate Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of software for companies, organizations and government agencies that want to create the most complete, real-time views of people, households and organizations from data dispersed across multiple application systems and databases. Initiate Identity Hub(TM) software is more accurate, scalable, rapidly deployed and widely used than any other customer data integration and enterprise master person index solution. Many organizations in the financial services, government, healthcare, hospitality and retail sectors are using Initiate(TM) software to deliver the right data at the right time to all critical touch points. Initiate Systems' proven experience makes it uniquely qualified to enable strategic initiatives that allow organizations to increase revenue and efficiency, and reduce operating costs and risks.

Source: Business Wire

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