Netsmart announces a new referral interoperability model
Netsmart, in partnership with Epic Systems and MedAllies, has launched a closed-loop data sharing referral system with behavioral health provider LifeWorks NorthWest through the Portland, Oregon-based OCHIN health information exchange. The partnership facilitates the sharing of behavioral health and primary care information within a Federally Qualified Health Center model.
The new capability will help LifeWorks NW provide better care, Katy Beveridge, vice president of operations, said in a statement this week.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The pilot system, called Launch 360X, is an interoperability milestone that better connects primary care and community-based behavioral health providers by streamlining referral management and ensuring transparency across healthcare settings, the company said Tuesday.
“We have continued to advocate and advance interoperability strategies to enable providers to deliver coordinated, value-based care,” AJ Peterson, senior vice president and general manager of CareGuidance at Netsmart, said in the statement.
The new standards are intended to close the loop on referrals electronically, reducing provider burden, transcription errors and the overall cost of care, according to Netsmart, a founding member of the Carequality interoperability framework.
This allows primary care providers to efficiently track patients as they transition to community care, regardless of their electronic health records.
“By successfully deploying the 360X interoperability standards, we can make this model widely available to providers, further connecting the healthcare ecosystem as a whole,” said Peterson.
“This innovation increases the quality, efficiency and safety of care, increasing the satisfaction of everyone involved,” said Dr. Holly Miller, Chief Medical Officer at MedAllies, said in a statement.
“LifeWorks NW has a long-standing commitment to leveraging interoperability and data sharing to drive integrated care models and foster strong partnerships with primary care and hospital partners,” Beveridge added.
LifeWorks NW accepted the Carequality framework through the collaboration with Netsmart in 2018.
THE BIG TREND
Consumer engagement technologies support population health management by improving data exchange between community healthcare settings and creating a more connected and efficient healthcare ecosystem powered to improve patient outcomes.
However, several variables have made access to and sharing of behavioral health care data a challenge to care coordination efforts.
Alisa Chestler, chair of the data protection, privacy and cybersecurity team at Baker Donelson, told Healthcare IT news last year that policy and financing incentives are starting to break down digital barriers. She said there is a “continued desire to really advance alignment” on behavioral health interoperability.
ON THE RECORD
“Our commitment to interoperability not only improves care coordination, but also drives the industry toward more efficient and effective patient outcomes, ensuring critical health information is accessible when and where it is needed,” Netsmart’s Peterson said in a statement.
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.