Climb Aboard the Data Express: Delivering Patient Results to a Physician Practice Near You
(10/18/2007)

Wouldn't it be great for patient care if there was an efficient way to send results from hospitals to physician practices that use other vendors' systems? Well, much like a train transporting precious cargo from one destination to another, a new interface solution called Data Express transmits electronic patient data from hospitals to affiliated physician offices and clinics. This new technology was jointly developed by MEDITECH and its corporate ally Forward Advantage, Inc.

"Working with MEDITECH, we have designed a solution that uses an exceptionally reliable, MEDITECH-approved method of data acquisition and distribution to ultimately enhance patient safety, quality of care, and physician satisfaction," states Chris Roggenstein, president and CEO of Forward Advantage. "Customers can enjoy advantages such as cost efficiencies, secure data, rapid deployment, easy maintenance, and the flexibility to communicate results in a range of HL7 formats."

So, how does it work? First, a special interface bundle is set up between MEDITECH and Data Express, and data is sent from MEDITECH to Data Express via HL7 format. From there, the data is converted into a standard format and sent off to the physicians' practices based on the profile of the practices' information systems. "MEDITECH's hospital customers can send out data to as many physician practice systems as desired, yet only one interface set is required between MEDITECH and Data Express," explains Darla Rigg, vice president of marketing and product management at Forward Advantage.

MEDITECH's Senior Manager of Marketing Technology Ted Kimball agrees that not having to set up multiple interfaces for each physician practice is a huge plus. "As a result, cost efficiencies for customers are significantly increased, as the hospital only manages one outbound set of results," he says.

Getting On Track for Faster Deployment, Easier Maintenance
Since many health care facilities are faced with the task of delivering data to a large variety of EMRs in physicians' offices, Forward Advantage is working directly with vendors to develop and offer data output libraries designed specifically for these EMRs. "These standardized 'eMaps' ensure we can deploy Data Express very quickly to many sites," says Roggenstein. "We will also continue to provide non-standard, custom solutions as well."

Hospital I.T. departments will find the single-interface approach of Data Express is easy to support and requires very little maintenance. "Because we offer a 'MEDITECH-endorsed' solution, customers can rest assured they have a viable solution—rather than a volatile solution, which is often the case with outside interfaces," says Roggenstein.

Currently, physicians' offices can access data from numerous MEDITECH applications running at hospital sites, including Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathology, Blood Bank, Imaging and Therapeutic Services, Radiology, and Departmental. According to Hoda Sayed-Friel, vice president of Marketing at MEDITECH, our offerings will continue to expand in numerous ways, to best suit our customers.

"MEDITECH and Forward Advantage are fully committed to this product," she says. "As standards and requirements evolve, we will be sure to continue providing customers with a dynamic solution which meets their needs now and in the future."

 

MEDITECH
Medical Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com