SCOTTSDALE, AZ – February 23, 2010 – Physicians and other medical professionals will be able to access patient information across the 10 rural and metropolitan hospitals in the Louisiana State University health system with the implementation of Fusionfx, an interoperable clinical workflow solution from Carefx Corporation.
Based at the LSU Health Sciences Center – Shreveport, the portal solution, which LSU calls LSU HealthLink, will aggregate information from two separate data centers and several different applications that support the LSU hospital network. The portal-based view of patient data streamlines the way LSU’s more than 1,200 physicians and 2,000 residents and fellows access, interact with and share patient data, helping reduce errors, increase productivity and improve patient care.
“The ability to exchange data between clinicians and between hospitals is extremely important for achieving meaningful use of patient information,” said Andrew Hurd, Chairman and CEO of Carefx, a leading provider of interoperable workflow solutions. “By closing the gaps among various information systems and providing access to patient information through a single, integrated portal, the care providers at LSU are able to offer a more consistent, higher quality patient experience.”
LSU HealthLink, already fully implemented in the LSU Medical Center emergency department, allows clinicians to access patient information from the separate data repositories in the LSU Health System and brings relevant data from Siemens LCR, Allscripts, LSU’s CLIQ and others into a unified portal experience.
“Greater access to patient data allows our physicians to obtain a complete picture of a patient’s medical history, therefore aiding them in their medical decision-making and providing more time-effective care,” said Dr. Thomas Arnold, Director, LSU emergency department. “Implementing this portal in the LSU’s emergency department has already been of great benefit to our providers and patients.”
The LSU project with Carefx is an expansion of electronic health record (EHR) accessibility among Louisiana hospitals that began with the Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange (LAHRIX) in 2008. Using Fusionfx, LARHIX now provides real-time electronic data exchange for the teleconsultation services linking the 24 Northern Louisiana community providers with LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
“LSU HealthLink is most certainly an example of what could happen in the rest of the state,” said Lee Bairnsfather, CIO of LSU Health Sciences Center. “As a state whose medical system has been greatly affected by natural disasters more than once, Louisiana would benefit immensely from an interoperability platform, making portable the data among the various electronic medical systems in the state. Given Carefx’s innovative and scalable technology, this is very possible. The Carefx system will help us achieve meaningful use of our patient data.”
