ICA Identifies Key Trends Contributing to the Merging of Enterprise and Health Information Exchange Models

Business Wire, June 5, 2008

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Pointing to a shift in the health information technology market toward the merging of enterprise and health information exchange (HIE) models to support the delivery of community-based care, Informatics Corporation of America (ICA; www.icainformatics.com) identifies five key trends contributing to this transition: the growing impetus for provider connectivity; increasing focus on managing chronic diseases; market pressures for improved alignment between hospitals and their physicians; increased patient expectation of involvement in the care process; and advances in technology facilitating system interoperability. ICA provides clinicians with a single technology solution for accessing, evaluating and acting upon patient information across disparate systems.

"These trends highlight the benefits which community-based healthcare models can offer all constituents - physicians, patients and healthcare providers across the continuum of care," says Gary M. Zegiestowsky, CEO of ICA, whose A3Align Solution(TM) is presently operational in both enterprise and HIE environments. "The gap between traditional enterprises and HIEs is closing, with growing connectivity for physicians and ultimately the entire healthcare community in certain cities or regions. We believe this is signaling a paradigm shift that has both near- and long-term implications for healthcare and HIT."

Zegiestowsky elaborates on the trends impacting stakeholders:

* Need for enhanced connectivity among hospitals and physicians: Complete information is the foundation of quality patient care. Access to a patient's longitudinal record enables providers to make more informed decisions and deliver better quality care more efficiently.

* Increased focus on managing chronic diseases: Increased rates of diabetes, CHF and other chronic diseases are creating a need for more proactive care to manage these diseases and lower costs for payers. Continuity of care is enhanced when providers are able to access patient information from multiple treatment settings.

* Market pressures for improved alignment between hospitals and their physicians: Increasingly, hospitals are aligning with physicians to strengthen their relationship and promote recruitment and retention. Cooperation and collaboration between hospitals and physicians are also key to achieving improvements in the quality of medical care delivery and patient outcomes.

* Increased patient expectation of involvement in the care process: As patients become more informed about health issues, their desire to participate in the care process increases. The quality and efficiency improvements achieved through technology can promote patient involvement, improving satisfaction and trust.

* Technology: Advances in biomedical informatics and progress in achieving system interoperability are enabling information technology to be applied to clinical processes to improve provider efficiency, enhance the overall quality of care, and promote a more patient-centric model of care.

"In order to keep pace with these trends, physicians in every community first need intuitive, proven technology solutions aligned with clinical workflow to speed the adoption of electronic health records," says Zegiestowsky. "Moving toward patient-centric care will be possible when all providers across the broad spectrum of care are able to access and utilize a unified patient record in combination with tools that enable better care."

ICA's A3Align Solution(TM) is based upon technology developed over the course of 10 years by practicing physicians and informatics professionals at Vanderbilt Medical Center. It is installed at Bassett Healthcare's enterprise of four hospitals and 27 clinics in Cooperstown, N.Y. ICA recently announced the Health Information Exchange of Montana and Northwest Healthcare will soon begin implementation of the A3Align Solution(TM) as a single-source platform for meeting enterprise and community needs in northwest Montana. The same core technology was deployed by Vanderbilt across the nine organizations and over 40 facilities in the Mid-South eHealth Alliance, a successful health information exchange in western Tennessee that is entering its second year of operation.

About Informatics Corporation of America (ICA)

Informatics Corporation of America (ICA) was formed to take innovative technology developed by practicing physicians and informatics professionals at Vanderbilt Medical Center to the broader healthcare market. ICA builds on existing clinical IT systems, with a single technology solution to access, evaluate and act upon patient information across all treatment settings. Visit www.icainformatics.com.