A detailed and standardized national registry of commonly used joint replacement devices would improve patient outcomes and create clinical and financial efficiencies, according to a Kaiser Permanente research study of 85,000 joint surgeries published in the November issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Information on the more than 600,000 total knee and hip replacements performed annually in the United States could enhance patient safety and quality of care and provide a foundation for more in-depth research projects that will contribute to better outcomes as increasing numbers of replacements are performed in the future, researchers found.

This prospective study of 80,000 total joint replacement and 5,000 anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction procedures within Kaiser Permanente’s national implant registries – the nation’s largest registry of implants — looked at patient demographics, implants and surgical techniques in relationship to outcomes for these procedures. This is the largest community-based research study of outcomes with total knees and hips and ACL reconstruction procedures, and one of few studies conducted with a registry that includes a level of detail to assess outcomes in the United States.

“Our findings demonstrate the critical impact of registries and the important role they play in counseling patients, identifying risk factors, tracking implanted devices during recalls and assessing comparative effectiveness of devices,” said study lead author Elizabeth Paxton, director of surgical outcomes and analysis at Kaiser Permanente.

Researchers found the three most common reasons for re-operations of ACL reconstruction of the knee were meniscus injury, stiffness and device removal. These risk factors and outcomes demonstrate how a registry can improve quality of care by providing feedback to physicians. Additionally, the orthopedic implant registries were used to track eight recalls and advisories during the study period, which were critical in immediately identifying and following up with patients that were impacted.

Since its inception in 2001, Kaiser Permanente’s Total Joint Replacement Registry and subsequently the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Registry have helped health care providers identify clinical best practices, evaluate and monitor patient outcomes and risk factors associated with revision surgeries, and assess the clinical effectiveness of implants.  Kaiser Permanente is able to develop and utilize these data tools because of the information contained in Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect^®, the world’s largest private sector electronic health record. The Kaiser Permanente TJRR now has more than 100,000 implants registered.

The United States does not have a national registry to track joint replacements to gauge implant effectiveness and patient risk. Sweden, Finland, Norway, Australia and Denmark have built large and successful national registries; those registries have had similar findings to those at Kaiser Permanente.

“The information we will obtain from our ACL registry will help us to identify those patient factors and surgical techniques that will lead to the best overall outcome,” said Greg Maletis, MD, study co-author and an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park (Calif.) Medical Center. “We will also be able to compare our results, with the results of patients from other countries like Norway and Sweden who also have ACL registries.”

Using integrated data systems and advanced statistical analyses, the registries collect patient demographics, implant characteristics, surgical techniques, and outcomes prospectively at the point of care. These data were supplemented with data from Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, which enables all of the organization’s more than 15,000 physicians to electronically access the medical records of Kaiser Permanente’s 8.6 million members nationwide.

The study showed how registries can identify risk factors that can be applied to a larger population. For example, researchers found an increased rate of ACL reconstructions for specific demographics among men and women, and increased time between injury and surgery (six to 12 months) associated with an increased rate of additional knee injuries compared to surgery within three months of the original injury. This demonstrates the importance of addressing surgery needs early on to prevent subsequent injuries.

Authors of the study include Elizabeth W. Paxton, MA, Maria C.S. Inacio, MS, and Richard B. Low Jr., MHA, from Kaiser Permanente’s Surgical Outcomes and Analysis Unit of Clinical Analysis in San Diego; Robert S. Namba, MD, and T. Ted Funahashi of the Department of Orthopaedics, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Orange County; Gregory B. Maletis, MD, and Monti Khatod, MD, of the Department of Orthopaedics, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Baldwin Park;

Eric J. Yue, MD, of the Department of Orthopaedics, The Permanente Medical Group, Sacramento,  Mark Davies, MD, of the Department of Orthopaedics, The Permanente Medical Group, San Jose,  Ronald W.B. Wyatt, MD, of the Department of Orthopaedics, The Permanente Medical Group, Walnut Creek.

SRS, the leading provider of productivity-enhancing technology and services for high-performance physician specialty practices, today announced a partnership with Medstrat, the pioneer of orthopaedic PACS (digital x-ray) software. SRS will offer its clients an exceptional and innovative PACS system that is fully integrated with the SRS Hybrid EMRand the SRS CareTracker PM.

Capitalizing on its OpenPath^TM technology, SRS will incorporate the PACS system so that clients access images directly from within the EMR. The product will be branded as the SRS PACS, powered by Medstrat, and will be implemented, supported, and serviced by SRS.

“PACS is another component of the SRS Unified Desktop that is essential for speed and productivity, and is particularly critical for orthopaedic surgeons,” says SRSsoft CEO Evan Steele. “We researched many PACS companies and selected Medstrat based on its dedication to orthopaedics and our shared commitment to customer service as the highest priority.”

“We are delighted to be working with the leading provider of EMR solutions for the orthopaedics community,” says Michael Cowden, Founder and CEO, Medstrat. “We look forward to jointly helping physicians provide the highest quality care and service to their patients in the most efficient manner.”

Michael Goebel, M.D., physician at Blue Ridge Bone & Joint Clinic in Asheville, NC, has been a successful user of both the SRS Hybrid EMR and Medstrat’s PACS system. “We are delighted that our two primary software vendors have formed this agreement to integrate their systems. Having a single product interface and support network through SRS is a big plus for us.”

About SRS
SRS is the recognized leader in productivity-enhancing EMR technology and services for high-performance orthopaedic practices-with the largest national network of orthopaedists successfully using an EMR. Its key products, the robust SRS Hybrid EMR and SRS CareTracker PM, offer powerful and flexible solutions that streamline clinical workflows and enhance patient care. SRS increases speed, frees physicians’ time, boosts revenue, and heightens patient satisfaction. Prominent orthopaedic groups overwhelmingly choose SRS because of its unique fit with the demands of their specialty. For more information on SRS, visit www.srssoft.com, e-mail info@srssoft.com, fax 201.802.1301, or call 800.288.8369.

About Medstrat
Medstrat originated digital x-ray imaging for orthopedic practices to meet the unique needs of the orthopedic surgeon and address the demanding challenges orthopedic surgeons face every day, including the pressure to reduce costs and deliver faster, higher-quality patient care. Based upon a proven, high-performing digital medical imaging platform, Medstrat allows for the elimination of film, chemicals, and processing, increases workflow efficiency and staff productivity, and provides significant cost savings. For more information, call 800-882-4224 or visit www.medstrat.com.

A compilation-style book entitled “Pink Ribbons: Cancer’s Answers,” featuring contributions from cancer survivors and loved ones of those who have battled cancer was released July 31, and the sales of it will benefit patients through the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

James Boyd, author of the book from Mt. Enterprise, Texas, compiled the submissions and wrote portions as well, including information about cancer research, introspective poems and a letter to his sister, whom he recently lost to cancer.

“I really wanted to do something that would honor my sister as well as actually give hope to patients directly,” said Boyd. “During the final year of her battle with cancer, I researched a number of different programs and charities and later discovered that the National Foundation for Cancer Research is actually improving the lives of patients, every day through the hope and promise of cancer research.”

20 percent of the total sales of each book will go to support the Cancer Patient Assistance Fund of the NFCR, which provides patients with financial assistance and access to advanced testing and treatments. The entries in “Pink Ribbons” include poems, dedications, stories from survivors, and letters to those who have passed.

“It is an uplifting, healing and inspirational book”, said Franklin C. Salisbury, Jr., President of the NFCR.  “A pause for hope, in a continuing effort to unlock the mysteries of cancer.”

The book is published by Friesen Press, a unique company bridging the gap between traditional and self-publishing. A division of Friesens Corporation, Friesen Press has been in the book business since 1923 and focuses on independent authors.

“We are proud to be the publisher of ‘Pink Ribbons: Cancer’s Answers,’” said Marie Witt, marketing specialist for Friesen Press. “Not only is it meaningful to the author, James, but it is more than just a book because it is helping change the lives of cancer patients everywhere through NFCR. We are happy to provide a springboard for this idea and make it into a reality.”

“Pink Ribbons: Cancer’s Answers” is available for purchase online at freisenpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and ingrampublisherservices.com.

About the National Foundation for Cancer Research

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is a leading cancer research charity dedicated to funding cancer research and public education relating to cancer prevention, earlier diagnosis, better treatments and, ultimately, a cure for cancer. NFCR promotes and facilitates collaboration among scientists to accelerate the pace of discovery from bench to bedside.

Since 1973, NFCR has provided over $275 million in support of discovery-oriented cancer research focused on understanding how and why cells become cancerous, and on public education relating to cancer prevention, detection, and treatment.  NFCR’s scientists are discovering cancer’s molecular mysteries and translating these discoveries into therapies that hold the hope for curing cancer. NFCR is about Research for a Cure—cures for all types of cancer.  For more information, please visit www.NFCR.org.

Allscripts announced today that Danbury Office of Physician Services (DOPS), a physicians group based in Danbury, CT, will expand its deployment of the Allscripts Electronic Health Record (EHR) across its network from its current base of 51 physicians to all of its 238 employed physicians.

DOPS is a large, multi-specialty physician group serving residents of Western Connecticut and Southeastern New York. It is affiliated with Danbury Hospital, a 371-bed regional medical center and university teaching hospital associated with Yale University School of Medicine, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, and the University of Vermont.

“Danbury Office of Physician Services has seen a significant improvement in efficiency since our initial implementation of the electronic health record,” said Ed Kushmerek, Executive Director of DOPS. “By expanding the deployment to our employed physicians, we are working towards our vision of building a regional healthcare system in which all providers have comprehensive, real-time electronic access to vital patient information. Our goal is to create a model where patients are safe and receive innovative, convenient, and coordinated medical care in their community.”

Danbury Hospital has utilized the Allscripts Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) since 2006 to improve the quality of patient care and streamline ED staff workflow.

“Danbury Office of Physician Services understands the value in offering an integrated Electronic Health Record solution to its physicians to help them provide more efficient healthcare to their patients at an affordable cost,” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. “Allscripts is pleased to partner with DOPS, in part because we share a belief that healthcare providers, equipped with the right information can provide the best quality patient care.”

The Allscripts Enterprise Electronic Health Record will continue to bring DOPS physicians access to patient information when and where they need it – at the hospital, in their offices or while on-call at home. Enterprise delivers robust tools for documentation and orders, a breakthrough in connectivity and preloaded connections to a range of devices, seamless support for pay-for-performance and quality initiatives, and an advanced user experience that lets physicians easily configure the system to their own specific needs while protecting the discrete data needed for research and analysis.

In addition to providing the core Electronic Health Record to its physicians, DOPS will provide view-only access to key parts of the Electronic Health Record for all employed caregivers in the system’s hospitals. View-only access helps ensure patient safety by providing hospital caregivers across the DOPS network access to medication histories, health issues, allergies and other critical information about patients admitted to the hospital by DOPS primary and specialty care groups.

CDW Healthcare, part of the public sector subsidiary of CDW Corporation and Cerner Corporation , a global provider of healthcare solutions, today announced an agreement for CDW to offer Cerner ® physician practice solutions. The collaboration marks the first time the complete suite of Cerner ambulatory solutions for physician practices are available through a national channel partner.

Working in concert, Cerner and CDW Healthcare will offer physicians one-stop software, hardware and service offerings along with comprehensive client service. To quickly deploy the electronic health record (EHR) system, practices can choose between a locally-hosted model or the industry-leading Cerner application service provider (ASP) model hosted in its state-of-the-art technology centers. Physicians benefit from packages that include training, solutions delivery, hosting services, upgrades and support for an affordable monthly subscription. The Cerner ambulatory EHR solution is certified by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT). Physicians can select the Cerner EHR solution with confidence as the company is committed to obtaining certification for the enabling requirements of “meaningful use” under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

In addition to accessing a suite of proven Cerner solutions, physician offices can utilize CDW Healthcare’s extensive technology offerings, including hardware and software products from more than 1,000 manufacturer partners. Drawing upon years of experience in helping more than 15,000 healthcare organizations meet their technology needs, CDW Healthcare has the expertise and capability to satisfy the requirements of providers of all sizes, from individual physician practices to multi-location, interconnected campuses by providing product guidance, solution customization and deployment services.

“While adoption of EHRs in the U.S. marketplace has been slow, many physicians will look to implement EHRs in the next 24 months due to the HITECH provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” said Mike Valentine, Cerner Corporation Worldwide Client Organization executive vice president. “Our collaboration with CDW Healthcare provides our clients a single touch point for technology expertise, solutions guidance and deployment services, enabling them to focus on what matters most – providing quality patient care and improving the financial health of their practice.”

ARRA contains both incentives for early adoption of EHR systems and reimbursement penalties for late and non-adoption. With finances at stake, many physician practices will soon need to tackle both the management and technology challenges associated with implementing an EHR system. The limited personnel resources in most physician offices can sometimes make this a complex undertaking. Most are small businesses with one or two practicing physicians, leaving caregivers with little time to focus on technology-related concerns.

“Physicians and their IT teams have real dollars at stake for meeting the 2011 meaningful use requirements in the Federal stimulus package,” said Bob Rossi, vice president of CDW Healthcare. “For the first time, physician practices seeking to adopt EHR solutions can benefit from the combined expertise of two industry-leading technology providers. By combining our industry knowledge and the breadth of our product offerings with Cerner’s world-class clinical solutions, we can provide customers with the end-to-end support necessary to pursue successful EHR implementations.”

Sequel Systems, Inc., a dynamic, service-oriented healthcare technology company, today announced the launch and general availability of SequelMed Patient Portalâ„¢, a new, Web-based tool that improves and speeds up communication between physicians and patients, giving patients instant access to their personal health information, and allowing physicians and other healthcare providers more time to focus on delivering the best possible care. SequelMed Patient Portal is the latest addition to Sequel Systems’ suite of healthcare solutions, which includes an electronic health record (EHR), practice and document management software, and e-prescribing technology. More than 12,000 physicians in all 50 states and representing all major specialties currently use the company’s solutions.

In light of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, healthcare organizations are scrambling to demonstrate adoption and use of a certified EHR in order to get a piece of the stimulus pie. However, while transitioning from paper-based to fully electronic environments, it is vitally important to not only create system efficiencies, reduce medical errors and improve outcomes, but also to create a communication and education platform between patients and their providers.

A 2007 study on patient portals in The British Journal of General Practice found that “Record access will result in a closer relationship between GPs [general practitioners] and their patients. Access enables patients to participate in their own care, find out relevant information, and ask about their disease and health…we see record access as significantly improving shared care and improving not only trust in and respect of clinicians by patients, but also trust in and respect of patients by clinicians.”1 That’s where SequelMed Patient Portal comes in.

“Our goal in selecting the SequelMed Patient Portal is to provide our physicians with an additional tool to communicate quickly and efficiently with patients online, while also ensuring that patients have real-time care and access to information that helps them stay connected and actively involved in their own health,” said Dr. Peter Deane, principal, Allergy Asthma Immunology of Rochester (AAIR). “In addition, because the new tool integrates seamlessly with our existing SequelMed EHR installation, we expect to be up and running quickly and experiencing time savings that allow us to better serve the patients who depend on us faster than with other solutions.”

In today’s technologically advanced healthcare society, a patient portal provides the perfect way for providers and patients to connect and engage while ensuring that everyone has an equally important role in the care process. SequelMed Patient Portal is designed as a user-friendly, simple application that facilitates online communication between patients and their providers. Built with patient convenience in mind, SequelMed Patient Portal integrates seamlessly with SequelMed EHR and electronic medical record (EMR) solutions.

“The availability of SequelMed Patient Portal underscores our continued commitment to deliver healthcare technology solutions that not only provide value to our customers, but also improve the quality of care and the patient experience system wide,” said Irfan Iqbal, director of medical informatics at Sequel Systems. “By seamlessly connecting patients to their providers and to information about their health and their care in a secure, easy-to-use online environment, the Patient Portal serves as a perfect way to bring together the two most important people in the care cycle and ensure that both are active and equal participants in the decision-making process. AAIR’s early experience demonstrates just how beneficial this technology can be.”

Ingenix today announced that it has expanded the electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) capabilities of its CareTracker™ EMR solution. The new e-prescribing features are Surescripts® certified and allow physicians to access their patients’ prescription histories and drug benefit information as part of an electronic health record. E-prescribing with CareTracker EMR helps physicians reduce the chance of adverse drug reactions, inform patients of the expected costs for prescriptions and determine patient eligibility for comparable, lower-cost medication options.

E-prescribing allows physicians to transmit orders for prescription medications directly to pharmacies electronically – improving accuracy, efficiency and convenience for patients. In 2008, over 68 million prescriptions were routed electronically, according to Surescripts, the largest nationwide e-prescribing network.

With Ingenix CareTracker EMR, physicians can:

• Transmit prescriptions directly to their patients’ preferred pharmacy accurately and quickly
• Maintain and review a patient’s allergy and prescription use history at the point of care
• Check for drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy interactions to avoid potential adverse effects
• Reconcile current orders with past prescriptions to avoid medication errors such as omissions, duplications and dosing errors
• Access patient prescription benefit information to pre-determine eligibility for specific medications and estimate the cost to the patient

“E-prescribing with CareTracker EMR has eliminated nearly all paperwork related to prescription orders, and has saved our office an immeasurable amount of time,” said Douglas Foreman, D.O., a family practice physician in Warwick, Rhode Island who has used CareTracker EMR since 2007. “Accessing patient charts instantly when writing an online prescription assures me that I am making the best possible decisions for my patients.”

“Doctors who use CareTracker EMR can view historical prescription records from an array of new sources, as well as data that enables them to determine, at the point of care, what the patient’s out-of-pocket costs will be,” said Russ Keene, vice president at Ingenix. “Patients and doctors win with this kind of decision support as it promotes safety and cost transparency.”

To obtain Surescripts certification, CareTracker EMR met rigorous standards for patient safety, efficiency of the e-prescribing processes, and ease of use. Moreover, Surescripts certification enables CareTracker EMR to connect instantly with every major pharmacy in the U.S. and the nation’s leading Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) programs.

Ingenix CareTracker EMR is a leading web-based electronic health record solution that fully integrates with all the operational functions of a physician practice. Ingenix CareTracker offers three modules to support physician practice operations: Ingenix CareTracker PM optimizes administrative workflows for physician practices; Ingenix CareTracker EMR helps clinicians enter, retrieve and correlate patient information at the point of care; and Ingenix CareTracker Services improves revenue cycle management with comprehensive billing and accounts receivable support. For more information, visit www.ingenix.com/caretracker.

4D Medical Systems, Inc. announced the U.S. launch of the 4D PhotoStation™ System today. The 4D PhotoStation System eliminates the costs and complexities of digital photography in the medical practice while increasing photo-imaging revenue opportunities. Photographic documentation is well known for melanoma, cosmetic procedure before and afters and documenting effects of procedures.

“The system is simple to use, captures high quality photographs, and enables patient ID referenced documentation of visual changes over time. We are very pleased to be working with a company that is so in tune with what our physicians and aestheticians need in today’s dynamic practice environment,” said George Smith, CMPE and Administrator at The Skin Wellness Center in Knoxville, a user of the system.

The 4D PhotoStation merges the low cost of filmless digital photography with the critical features of a medical imaging and archive system to provide a simple and turnkey solution for integrating photo-images into patient electronic medical records (EMR). By automatically associating photo-images with a patient record ID, fast electronic retrieval eliminates the need for hardcopy prints for physical filing, also saving the practice staff valuable time.

“4D PhotoStation is the first system to address the photo-image management and workflow in the practice. The system saves significant hidden labor costs related to using point-and-shoot camera photography in the clinic, while making revenue-generating procedures like total body photography practical,” said James M. Miller, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

While going digital with photography eliminates film processing and scanning, merely capturing a digital picture offers no ease of integration with electronic medical records.

However, the 4D PhotoStation System enables high quality photo-images to be quickly and easily captured and immediately associated and permanently stored electronically along with the patient chart record.

The 4D PhotoStation provides costs savings and photo-imaging revenue opportunities regardless of whether a practice is currently using an electronic medical records system or is still relying on a paper-based record system.

“PhotoStation is a practical solution that provides improved patient care and a fast payback by eliminating the cost of batteries and memory cards and reducing the costs of staff time in organization and print output. Practically, it also provides an irrefutable legal record of the efficacy of procedures,” said Joseph L. Ortiz, co-founder, President and CEO of 4D Medical Systems.

The 4D PhotoStation brings together industry-leading imaging components into a portable, easy to use, portable photo-imaging system. The 4D PhotoStation features the Nikon D90 Digital SLR camera and the Nikon 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor Telephoto Auto Focus Lens. The PhotoStation eliminates the need for a dedicated photography room in the practice and complex lighting. The 4D Medical Systems’ 4D Photo-Image Manager software manages the entire photo-imaging workflow and provides a single point of control over the entire process of capturing, organizing, annotating, and communicating digital photo-images.

NaviNet (formerly NaviMedix), America’s largest real-time healthcare communications network, today announced the NaviNet Health Information Exchange (HIE), a solution that combines the NaviNet Provider Network of more than 770,000 providers nationwide, and NaviNet technology and services. The NaviNet HIE is now available to all state governments and U.S. territories at no cost, enabling more efficient implementation and expansion of local health data exchange. Adoption of NaviNet HIE minimizes technology investment requirements, providing states and territories a rapid and cost-effective way to offer their own branded health information exchange to electronically connect physicians, hospitals, insurers and existing HIEs in their regions. NaviNet is already used by two out of every three U.S. healthcare providers, and leading national, commercial and Blues health plans, resulting in significant costs savings to the industry.

“We’ve used NaviNet on a daily basis for years to exchange clinical, administrative and financial data – all from one Web site,” said Christine Feliciano, office manager, Primed of Trumbull. “NaviNet is an easy-to-use, irreplaceable part of our office. With NaviNet, we’ve been able to improve patient care coordination, reduce administrative costs and improve revenues.”

Health information exchange via solutions like NaviNet has proven financial benefits: By processing insurance eligibility verifications electronically, U.S. healthcare providers can save more than $2 billion a year as a whole, and a single health insurer can save more than $2.5 million per year. 1

“To address our nation’s healthcare challenges, more has to be done than just implementing electronic medical records in physician practices and hospitals,” said Wes Rishel, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner. “Providers need comprehensive access to patient data from various sources and a network to share that data. To ensure adoption of their health information exchange initiatives, and ongoing meaningful use of technology, state governments should look to leverage solutions that providers already have in place and which also offer flexibility for use by any provider, regardless of the level of technology implementation in their organization.”

The NaviNet HIE enables physicians, clinicians, hospitals, ancillary care providers, insurers and existing HIEs to exchange information in real-time within NaviNet’s established, secure and trusted network. Participation in the NaviNet HIE requires minimal to no investment in new technologies. The NaviNet HIE works with or without electronic medical record (EMR) systems and is easily integrated into existing healthcare processes. NaviNet offers proven accelerated adoption and optimal utilization, quickly yielding meaningful results and providing a sustainable business model for health information exchange.

“NaviNet Health Information Exchange offers a unique, ready-to-use solution that can enable stakeholders to demonstrate ‘meaningful use’ criteria to be eligible for federal government stimulus dollars for health data exchange,” said Brad Waugh, president and CEO of NaviNet. “NaviNet works for state governments and local HIEs who are either contemplating or in the process of building regional health data exchange.”

The NaviNet HIE includes an already established national provider network, technology infrastructure and supporting services.

NaviNet Provider Network––The nation’s largest real-time healthcare communications network includes:

Providers: More than 770,000 electronically connected physicians, clinicians, hospitals and ancillary care providers are enrolled in NaviNet.
Transaction volume: NaviNet processes more than 22 million real-time clinical, administrative and financial transactions per month, including more than 1.7 million clinical data exchanges.
Authenticated users: The NaviNet privacy and security model and registration process ensure the right information is being exchanged between appropriate authorized parties. NaviNet ensures safe and accurate information delivery based on demographics such as user role, the patient/provider relationship and the office location with which a caregiver is affiliated.
NaviNet Platform––State entities can offer health information exchange participants the following NaviNet technology features:

Branded Web portal: A state-branded HIE Web site that offers convenient, one-stop access to all transactions seven days a week.
More than 400 unique real-time transactions: Unparalleled depth and breadth of data exchange and automated work processes.
Privacy and security: Unique, HIPAA-compliant security model ensures that the right data reaches the right authorized healthcare providers at the right time.
Easy online enrollment services: Support rapid expansion and adoption of a state-branded HIE.
NaviNet Customer Services––NaviNet offers comprehensive support and services, including:

• Customer support: Online help and a call center to address technical and operational needs.
• User adoption and utilization management services: Ensure rapid adoption and optimal use among participants.
• User registration and authentication services: Establish trusted data sources with visibility into demographics of senders and recipients.
• Communications services: Marketing and communications services and channels for targeted outreach to HIE participants.
• Integration services: Recommendations for the right combination of connectivity, communication protocol and message formats.
• Account services: Guidance for the ongoing relationship between NaviNet and HIE participants to ensure value realization and customer satisfaction.

The NaviNet Health Information Exchange is available immediately. Interested government entities and other stakeholders should call 800-805-7569 or email sales@NaviNet.net.