Delaware Health Information Network

Event Notification System

Introduction

The Event Notification System is built by DHIN to notify you in real time when one of your patients has an encounter at any hospital in Delaware and DHIN participating hospitals across the region. DHIN currently receives alerts in real time for any patient admissions, intra-facility transfers, and discharges in the state of Delaware for Delaware residents treated in Maryland, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. ENS transmits alerts of these hospital events to anyone who needs to track a certain patient population. These alerts may include the hospital event type (i.e. admit, discharge, transfer), as well as additional information, such as updated patient demographics and recent prior admissions.

All hospitals in Delaware currently participate with DHIN. To view a current list of DHIN participants please go to For Data Senders.

What is Required to Sign Up?

The three main components of ENS are:

  1. Input of a patient list that the participant would like to track
  2. A definition of trigger events for alerts (ED admits, discharges, etc.)
  3. Mechanism for receiving alerts (Secure FTP, via On-line secure portal, direct feed, etc.)

Input of Patient List

DHIN needs to receive an initial upload of all patients for whom the participant is interested in receiving alerts. Following the initial upload, changes to the patient list must be submitted to DHIN on a regular basis. Examples of changes to the patient list include add patient, remove patient, and update patient’s demographics. Please use this file as a guide for submitting your patient panel:

DHIN ENS Patient Panel Template Input Sheet

If you would like to receive the Practice Location, or PCP affiliated with each patient on your alert summary, please indicate that information in additional columns in the patient panel (one column for each).

Event Notification System











Frequency of Updates to Patient List

Updates to the patient list should be submitted on a regular basis. Updates can be a complete overwrite of the previous panel or a panel that reflects only additions, deletions, and updates to the previous panel.

Additionally, the patient list should consist only of active patients, which DHIN considers patients that have had at least one encounter with the alert recipient in the past eighteen months. It is the alert recipient’s responsibility to delete the patient at the point he/she becomes inactive.


Trigger Events / Frequency for Alerts

Criteria that trigger alerts to be sent are configurable for each participant. Please specify your preferences below.

Important Note: DHIN strongly encourages you to only select those alerts that are most relevant to your needs. Some of our earliest participants report that subscribing to all possible alerts cause more alert traffic than what is necessary, making the service hard to manage. While we can change your selections at any time, we encourage you to only subscribe to the minimal number of events needed for your organization.

Mechanism for Receiving Alerts

Alerts will be made available via a secure file transfer process that is accessible through a standard internet connection.
Updates on your patients will be summarized on an Excel spreadsheet and delivered to a secure file that will be accessible only by your practice via the internet. DHIN will work with each practice in establishing a secure file on the web and enable each practice to access and retrieve the information that is delivered to this location. DHIN will collaborate directly with participating practices during the on-boarding process to ensure the most effective options for delivery are enabled. Practices using an EMR this has a live integration with DHIN, may work with their respective EMR vendor in order to enable alert through your EHR.

Spreadsheet Style Alert Sample

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Testimonials

“DHIN makes it very easy for us when a patient calls and says that they’ve had lab work or they’ve had imaging done, that we’re able to print that out and have that in their chart and reviewed prior to their appointment. So, it helps us out a lot in terms of time and convenience.”

– Wendy Silicato, First State Gastroenterology Association

Delaware Health Information Network - Empowering Data-Driven Decisions

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