CHICAGO & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rush Health and Ready Computing announced the successful deployment of the first phase of Rush Health Connect, an information technology solution, enabling Rush Health members to share health information securely and efficiently. Rush Health is a leading clinically-integrated network of physicians and hospitals that includes more than 1,100 physicians and 300 other clinicians serving the Chicago area. Rush Health has partnered with Ready Computing, a full services consulting firm that specializes in Health Information Exchange (HIE) implementations, to implement and customize InterSystems HealthShare®– the platform supporting Rush Health Connect.
Rush Health Connect provides its users with aggregated clinical information, customized patient alerts, and the foundation for more advanced analytics. In order to improve the sharing of health data across the Rush Health network, Rush Health Connect currently aggregates clinical information from two different electronic health record systems – Epic and AllScripts – widely in use by Rush Health members.
Rush Health has future plans to include all of the electronic health record (EHR) systems represented in its network, such as eClinicalWorks and athenahealth, as well as to establish connections with other HIEs and interoperability networks. Collecting clinical data from disparate EHR systems, with the consent of patients, provides clinicians with a longitudinal (overall) view of the patient’s medical history.
Rush Health Connect enables clinicians to view this aggregated patient data within their own existing EHR system, even when it is received from a different EHR. This adaptability makes it easier and more efficient for clinicians to utilize patient information to help guide patient care, sparing them the need to alter their clinical workflows or sign on to an additional application.
Rush Health exists in part to help the network’s hospitals and physicians to provide enhanced support for high-utilization patients – that is, patients with medical conditions that require coordinated care. To improve the communication and coordination for these patients, Rush Health Connect provides real-time alerts and notifications for physicians and care coordinators. When a patient exists on a care coordination notification list and is admitted or discharged from a Rush Health emergency department or hospital, members of the designated care team will receive an automatic, secure message notifying them of the admission or discharge. Enabling such automatic notifications improves the timely flow of information so that case managers and clinicians can effectively address the needs of the patient.