Huntsville (Texas) Memorial Hospital has linked its records to the Healthconnect regional care coordination network in southeastern Texas.
The health information exchange allows physicians at Huntsville Memorial to query a patient's prior health information to more accurately complete their record in the hospital's EHR. Physicians and staff will also be able to communicate with other facilities using HIPAA-compliant secure email, according to a news release.
Healthconnect, based in Houston, is certified through the Direct Trust Bundle, a consortium of hospitals and providers who follow standard policies and guidelines for HIEs. Because Direct Trust Bundle is a national organization, Healthconnect intends to eventually connect physicians nationally to exchange health information. The organization currently has 281 hospitals and physician groups and connects to HIETexas, according to the news release.
"This is going to improve patient care by enabling HMH to achieve better transitions of care for our patients," said Shannon Brown, CEO of Huntsville Memorial, in the news release. "Even if a patient is referred to Houston for a specialized procedure, being able to quickly see those records when the patient returns will help our care givers provide better followup."