Watch CBS News

Southeast Michigan Beacon Community, Michigan Health Information Network Cooperate On Expanded Service Offering

DETROIT (WWJ) -- The Southeast Michigan Beacon Community and the Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services announced an agreement using the health network's services to expand BeaconLink2Health, SEMBC's health information exchange.

When the work is completed, BeaconLink2Health users will enjoy a broad range of MiHIN's shared services combined with the capabilities of BeaconLink2Health's clinical data repository and robust community of provider data sources including physician organizations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, labs, and hospital systems feeding the exchange.

The deal includes:

Michigan Public Health Reporting -- Access to MiHIN's technology and infrastructure supporting statewide and interstate electronic submission of public health data to the appropriate agencies, as necessary to meet Meaningful Use Stage 2 public health reporting requirements, including the Michigan Care Improvement Registry, the Michigan Disease Surveillance System and the Michigan Syndromic Surveillance System.
Admit-Discharge-Transfer Notifications -- Enhancements supporting BeaconLink2Health alignment with a statewide Transition of Care initiative necessary to meet Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Pay for Performance requirements. This MiHIN technology supports an ADT Notification Service to automatically route and notify BeaconLink2Health providers (and care teams) of hospital admissions, discharges and transfers of their respective patients.
Direct Technology -- integration of MiHIN's Direct secure e-mail service to safely transport health data to support statewide initiatives, along with an ability to utilize the accompanying Health Provider Directory and Active Care Relationship Service shared with other HIEs. This technology routes ADTs provided by all state hospitals to appropriate state-designated HIEs, and then to appropriate providers and care teams for patients who have been admitted, discharged, or transferred from an acute care setting anywhere in the state.

Work on the development and integration of the MiHIN services has begun, the institutions said.

"Our agreement with MiHIN enables BeaconLink2Health to deliver a powerful combination of practice and physician-level Health Information Technology and Exchange capabilities enabling better, more informed care, while at the same time facilitating population health management and reporting that is essential to physician organizations, health systems, Accountable Care Organizations, and Organized Systems of Care" said Terrisca Des Jardins, director of the Southeast Michigan Beacon Community. "This agreement represents the ongoing development of local, state and federal relationships founded on a commitment to develop and deliver the right solutions to all levels of the health care delivery system."

"This type of collaboration demonstrates how working together enables us all to achieve more" said Tim Pletcher, Executive Director for MiHIN. "The idea of sharing our services is central to MiHIN's efforts to establish and promote the use of secure electronic health information exchange, and we're pleased to have the opportunity to work closely with SEMBC to provide our services with their BeaconLink2Health solution."

The Southeast Michigan Beacon Community is one of 17 Beacon Communities established by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and administered by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. As part of a larger healthcare revolution, the Southeast Michigan Beacon Community is committed to building and strengthening local health IT infrastructure and testing innovative approaches to make measurable improvements in health, care and cost. For more information, visit sembc.org.

MiHIN is dedicated to improving the healthcare experience and decreasing cost for Michigan's people by supporting the statewide electronic exchange of health information and making valuable data available at the point of care. MiHIN is a public and private nonprofit collaboration between the State of Michigan, the Office of the National Coordinator, sub-state Health Information Exchanges, insurers, payers, providers and patients. For more information please visit www.mihin.org.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.