Eaton Rapids Medical Center Partners with Great Lakes Health Information Exchange
EAST LANSING-- The East Lansing-based Great Lakes Health Information Exchange announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Eaton Rapids Medical Center in Eaton Rapids.
GLHIE has been active for just over a year and already the majority of the health care providers in the Lansing area have joined this community collaborative.
The partnership will allow the hospital to safely and securely share patient electronic medical records with its physicians, labs, other allied health facilities, and other hospitals and health care systems through a health information exchange system in the GLHIE network.
GLHIE's non-profit utility-based health information exchange system is modeled much like a phone company or an Internet provider. It will allow health care providers more complete and quicker access to patient records on which to base their diagnoses and treatment plans, improve the quality of care, and increase patient safety. GLHIE's system is in compliance with all state and federal regulations regarding the privacy and security of health information.
Currently, nine hospitals and 4,500 health care providers are part of the GLHIE network throughout Michigan.
"Eaton Rapids Medical Center's participation moves forward the community's efforts to electronically exchange critical health information among health care providers to ensure every patient receives the right care at the right time, regardless of where they touch the health care system," said GLHIE executive director Carol Parker.
Added Eaton Rapids Medical Center president and CEO Tim Johnson: "Easily sharing data between area health care providers supports our ongoing commitment to improve patient care and reduce health care costs."
Susan L. Courtnage, M.D., an internal medicine specialist in Eaton Rapids, has been a leader in getting the Eaton Rapids area connected.
"It has been refreshing to work with an organization that puts forth so much effort to help physicians," Courtnage said. "GLHIE did a tremendous amount of work for us. We thank them for being the first organization to make computer integration virtually effortless."
Work on Eaton Rapids Medical Center's participation in the GLHIE network will begin in September.
GLHIE is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the speed and quality of healthcare to the community by facilitating the authorized and secure electronic access and retrieval of critical clinical data to healthcare providers in the State of Michigan leading to safer and more effective patient-centered care. For more information, visit www.glhie.org.
