GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC), a national collaborative representing health information exchanges (HIEs), today announced the Alabama One Health Record® is now a SHIEC member. Alabama One Health Record aims to provide HIE services and improve consumer access to health information, with the goals of encouraging patient participation in health care decisions and improving health outcomes across the state.
“Our goal is to expand electronic health record (EHR) utilization, care access and telehealth capabilities so Alabama’s health care providers can deliver care coordination more quickly and cost-effectively,” said Gary Parker, director of health information technology for the Alabama Medicaid Agency. “Joining SHIEC will help us achieve our vision by expanding our access to great partners, resources and ideas from across the country.”
The Alabama Medicaid Agency leads a diverse statewide group of public and private sector stakeholders that collaborate on Alabama One Health Record. Alabama One Health Record has worked closely with the Alabama Department of Public Health and state hospital groups to supplement EHRs with data already collected through admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) alerts. The organization also plans to incorporate data from state rehabilitation services by fall 2018. By 2020, Alabama One Health Record seeks to leverage its nationwide connections through SHIEC and the eHealth Exchange to expand ADT alerting statewide, particularly in collaboration with the state’s Medicare and Medicaid services providers.
Over the next two years, the initiative also seeks to improve care of patients, particularly children, in underserved rural areas. Another area of keen interest is using HIEs to help populations displaced by hurricanes, tornadoes and other weather-related disasters – which are common in Alabama and surrounding states – by providing access to impacted populations’ health information quickly and easily.
“Alabama One Health Record is an important addition to the SHIEC community,” said Kelly Hoover Thompson, CEO for SHIEC. “Like many of our current members, One Health Record plays a critical role in their state by delivering health information needed to provide better care to underserved populations. By working together, our HIE members are uncovering ways to better serve vulnerable populations and provide valuable support in emergency preparedness and response to natural disasters, for example. We all get stronger through collaboration, and together, our members are playing an important role in addressing and overcoming health disparities across the country.”
About SHIEC
SHIEC is the national collaborative of health information exchanges (HIEs) and strategic business and technology partners. As the unbiased data trustees in their communities, SHIEC’s 60 member HIE organizations manage and provide for the secure digital exchange of data by medical, behavioral, and social service providers to improve the health of the communities they serve. Collectively, SHIEC members serve almost 75% of the U.S. population.
For more information about SHIEC, visit www.strategichie.com and follow us on Twitter at @SHIEClive.
Contact
Ivy Eckerman
Spire Communications
(540) 373-2963
ieckerman@spirecomm.com