Delaware Health Information Network

DHIN Announces HITRUST CSF Certification

First State’s Health Information Exchange Puts Safety First

DOVER, DE and CRANBURY, NJ  ̶  August 7, 2017 ̶  Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) and BluePrint Healthcare IT announced that DHIN’s implemented systems* have earned Certified status for information security by HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance). DHIN is in a select group of health information exchanges in the nation to receive this important designation.

As the first operational statewide health information exchange (HIE), DHIN provides an electronic network through which hospitals, physicians, laboratories and other clinical entities quickly and securely exchange clinical results and reports.

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Delaware Health Information Network Launches Healthcare Tracking Tools for Consumers

New integrated marketing campaign supports consumer education

DOVER, DE – May 15, 2017 – Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), one of the nation’s leading health information exchanges, is revolutionizing the healthcare market with a new consumer- facing program designed to empower patients across the state. Through new tools and information, the program will offer patients access to their medical information, as reported to DHIN, and shared between their medical providers.

“When you provide transparency, you reduce the stress people feel when making healthcare decisions,” said Randy Farmer, DHIN’s chief operating officer. “Our goal with this consumer-facing program is to bring patients closer to their health information.

“Ultimately,” he continued, “this is at the core of our mission to facilitate better healthcare by improving communication and access to information. We want to make people aware of who we are and where we fit into the overarching healthcare landscape all the way down to their own personal plan of care.”

Three Transparency Tools at Patients’ Fingertips
The newly launched program, which is supported by an extensive advertising and educational campaign, offers three consumer-based tools that can connect Delawareans with their personal healthcare information across a variety of platforms.

The Health Check Alert mobile messaging service will send a secure text message to advise a subscriber of several important items: that a medical result has been delivered to his or her doctor; that a medical professional has accessed the patient’s medical record; or that the subscriber has been admitted to the emergency room or hospital.

This free service will offer greater transparency of a patient’s healthcare information and may help to accelerate the identification of potentially fraudulent activity and abuse of health insurance information. It also helps improve care through better communication around patient care plans.

“Let’s say you receive a secure text with information about your lab results being ready, but you haven’t had lab work done,” Stacey Haddock Schiller, DHIN’s director of marketing said. “You and your medical practitioner can immediately identify and prevent another individual’s health information from affecting your personal plan of care down the road.”

DHIN promotes access to telemedicine service through MDLive. This online service provides around-the-clock access to a Delaware board-certified physician, whether at home, the office or on the go. Doctors speak with patients by phone or video chat to diagnose non-emergency medical conditions and prescribe treatment, as appropriate. The service is available for $14.95 a month for an individual or $17.95 per month for a family – less than the cost of an emergency room copay, in many cases.

Health Check Connect is the cornerstone of DHIN’s consumer engagement efforts. The personal health record (PHR) will help consumers access the same information that their medical caregivers see. Personal health information reported into DHIN’s Community Health Record – test results, doctors’ notes and imaging studies, for example – will be made available through a secure portal for a patient to see and to add to with prescription information, vital statistics and data from personal health trackers.

The PHR will be interactive: it can help patients chart their progress towards reaching health goals, allow for the secure exchange of messages with healthcare providers and provide a dashboard for at-a-glance health profiles.

Consumers can learn more about and soon register for any or all three products at DHIN’s new consumer-oriented website, www.DHIN24seven.org.

DHIN Launches Consumer Advertising Campaign
To introduce consumers to DHIN and its patient-facing tools, the organization launched an integrated marketing campaign earlier this spring. To showcase how DHIN creates better access to personal health information and patient engagement with healthcare professionals, a comprehensive advertising campaign consisting of television, radio, outdoor, print and digital advertising runs in all three counties.

The campaign, designed by a.s.a.p.r. Integrated Marketing, directs consumers to a new website, www.dhin24seven.org, which offers white board videos that explain how DHIN and its products work. It also further integrates DHIN’s accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, managed in conjunction with Four Dog Creative.

“The campaign is designed to bring complex and important topics in healthcare straight to consumers, giving them access to their records and promote understanding of how their information moves,” said Schiller. “The bright illustrations work to cut through the clutter and noise so that people are better informed. It’s all about empowerment.”

From Funding to Fruition
DHIN’s consumer facing program is one of several initiatives funded through a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology. DHIN was one of a dozen organizations nationwide selected to receive funds to improve the critical sharing of healthcare data among previously unreached sectors of the population. The programs developed within DHIN’s framework will support the expansion of health information exchange technology, tools and services and ultimately enhance patient experience, reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare. 

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Delaware Health Information Network Seeks Gold Standard of Data Security

Certified Assessor BluePrint Healthcare IT to Support HITRUST CSF Certification Process

Dover, DE and Cranbury, NJ  ̶  August 23, 2016 ̶  Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) and BluePrint Healthcare IT jointly announced they will partner to achieve HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance) Certification for DHIN in accordance with the HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF).

As the nation’s first operational statewide health information exchange (HIE), DHIN provides an electronic network through which hospitals, physicians, laboratories and other clinical entities quickly and securely exchange clinical results and reports. The organization joins a growing number of HIEs pursuing HITRUST certification to meet the highest standards of security, privacy and compliance.

With cyber threats and organized targeting of healthcare data on the rise, the HITRUST CSF has become the “gold standard” for measuring and certifying security management programs. Created by healthcare, technology, information security, privacy and compliance leaders, the CSF combines requirements from both existing federal and third-party standards and regulations.

“The sensitive nature of the information being shared makes its security paramount,” says Mark Jacobs, DHIN’s chief information officer. “Completing HITRUST Certification will give practitioners, payers and consumers added assurance that DHIN takes every precaution to protect the clinical information that flows through the exchange.”

In 2011, HITRUST released the first version of the CSF and BluePrint became the first 100% healthcare focused Certified Assessor. “We believed back then, as we do to this day, that a framework was needed in healthcare to establish a solid and clear foundation for a security management program,” said BluePrint President and CEO, Vikas Khosla. With a sole focus on the security programs of healthcare organizations, BluePrint provides practical, real-world, implementable solutions for the expanding number of HIEs, Business Associates and Health Systems pursuing HITRUST certification.

“Through our partnership with DHIN and other HIEs across the country, we see a great opportunity to form a collaborative of HIEs to share best practices, focused tools and lessons learned to collectively accelerate and streamline the certification process for all,” states Mark Ferrari, Chief Information Security Officer for BluePrint.

In ongoing efforts to provide added value, the Delaware Health Information Network and HIEs nationwide look to support solutions not only for healthcare providers but also payers. With most national payers now requiring a HITRUST certification to contract with business associates, ensuring the highest level of protection for HIE data is critical. And it provides patients and healthcare consumers with peace-of-mind that HITRUST certified organizations have made a significant commitment to ensuring privacy and security of their health records

DHIN expects to pass the rigorous HITRUST Certification by June 2017.

MedExpress Expands Collaboration with DHIN

First Walk-in Care Facility to Provide Data to the Delaware Health Information Network’s Community Health Record

Dover, DE — July 11, 2016 — MedExpress, a leading provider of walk-in care with five locations in Delaware, has gone live as a data provider with the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), making it the first walk-in care facility to submit patient information to the health information exchange.

As the nation’s first statewide health information exchange, DHIN is an electronic network for hospitals, physicians, medical providers, laboratories, radiology firms and others to safely exchange clinical results and reports. This data is securely stored in DHIN’s Community Health Record and shared as clinical care warrants.

While more than two-thirds of Delaware’s walk-in care facilities use DHIN, MedExpress is the only such data sender, delivering summary of care documents (C-CDAs) to DHIN’s Community Health Record.

Walk-in care facilities overall are playing an expanded role in healthcare. They are a convenient source for addressing urgent but non-emergent issues and can be a helpful alternative for patients when a visit to a primary care physician is not possible.

“Including information from MedExpress in DHIN’s patient catalogs will help to create a more complete Community Health Record,” according to Jan Lee, MD, chief executive officer, DHIN.

“We believe that coordinating and collaborating with other local health care providers will improve patient outcomes and help enhance people’s well-being and quality of life,” said Thomas LM Pangburn, MD, chief medical officer, MedExpress. “We are pleased to be the first walk-in care provider to share critical patient information with DHIN to support better continuity of care.”

MedExpress joins 24 other data senders, including hospitals, private radiology firms and independent labs, in submitting to DHIN. Maryland’s HIE, CRISP, also delivers admission, discharge and transfer summaries on Delaware residents to DHIN from all of its 44 acute care facilities, as do the District of Columbia’s six hospitals.

DHIN to Offer Mobile Messaging This Summer

Consumers to Receive Mobile Alerts about Their Healthcare Information

Dover, DE — April 4, 2016 — Further strengthening the collaboration between patients and their health care providers, the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) will launch a mobile messaging system for consumers. Developed in partnership with mPulse Mobile, the two-way messaging solution will alert consumers via text message when medical results have been delivered to their health care teams and when their medical records have been accessed by third-party parties.

Please see the press release here: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/03/prweb13295920.htm

iSpecimen and DHIN Announce Novel Program to Support Medical Research

Union Hospital Signs Up as the First Program Participant

Lexington, MA and Dover, DE — October 21, 2015— iSpecimen, a trusted source of customized human biospecimen collections and the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), the nation’s first operational statewide health information exchange (HIE), today announced a novel collaboration to support medical research. The joint program allows hospitals and labs in the DHIN network to easily repurpose remnant clinical specimens – samples that would otherwise be discarded once patient testing is complete – into medical research programs, while reducing their costs to participate in DHIN. The organizations also announced Union Hospital as the first DHIN member to participate in the joint program.

Through this program, healthcare information from participating DHIN members is de-identified and matched to corresponding remnant specimens at these provider sites. The specimens and their data are then searchable in real-time using iSpecimen’s unique technology. When matches are made, iSpecimen’s technology instructs laboratory personnel at participating provider sites to pick and ship the specimens to iSpecimen’s research customers instead of discarding them as they usually do once clinical testing is complete. Hospitals choosing to take part in the program make a critically important contribution to the acceleration of biomedical research and also benefit from reduced DHIN fees, which may be put back into hospital operations.

As patient-centricity and consumer-directed care have continued to increase in importance across the healthcare landscape, it is critical to note that the patient has a central role in this program. Only samples from patients who have expressly consented to participate are considered for an active research project. All samples from patients who have not provided consent are excluded and suppressed from consideration.

“The value of digitizing medical data extends beyond the obvious value of supporting direct patient care,” said Jan Lee, MD, CEO, DHIN. “With informed patient consent, digital data can also help match clinical specimens with very specific research criteria. DHIN is proud to play a role in supporting such efforts to find new breakthrough treatments and cures. We are delighted to have iSpecimen as a technology partner and to have Union Hospital as the first adopter of this innovative program.”

“Union Hospital is thrilled to kick off this initiative and begin to reap value that can be put back into care,” said Anne Lara, EdD, RN, CNE, CPHIMS, CIO, Union Hospital. “As a small community hospital, it’s great to know that we can make a significant impact in this way by helping researchers accelerate medical discoveries to help patients now and in the future.”

As the country’s first operational statewide HIE, DHIN has made a sizable impact on the quality, cost, and continuity of care in its region. DHIN serves all acute care hospitals, major laboratories, and radiology facilities in Delaware, along with all skilled nursing facilities and approaching 100% of ordering physicians. More than 14 million clinical results and reports are delivered through DHIN each year, with the number of unique patients exceeding 2.1 million, including residents from all 50 states. Its viability within the HIE landscape has been exemplary and DHIN is pioneering a model of innovation and sustainability for the HIE community. The organization saw this collaboration with iSpecimen as a unique way to leverage the HIE past the point-of-care and continue making a positive impact in medicine.

“Bringing our state-of-the-art technology to DHIN represents our first foray outside of a hospital, lab, or biobank,” explained Christopher Ianelli, MD, PhD, CEO, iSpecimen. “What’s really great is that by leveraging an HIE as the data aggregator, we’re making it easier for healthcare organizations to become part of the iSpecimen network by virtually eliminating their need to do any IT implementation. Requiring virtually no startup resources on the hospital or lab’s part, we can turn their specimen waste into valuable research material and make it visible to the scientific community.” 

Transformative Grant to Target Underserved Sectors

Transitions of Care A Focus for DHIN

 In September 2015, Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) received the exciting news that, after a rigorous application process, it was one of a dozen organizations nationwide selected to receive funding from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology*. The funds, available beginning this fall, are being furnished to support the:

  1. Expansion of the adoption of health information exchange technology, tools and services
  2. Facilitation and enabling of “send,” “receive,” “find” and similar capabilities of health information across organizational, vendor and geographic boundaries
  3. Increase the integration of health information in interoperable health IT to support care processes and decision-making

“This ONC funding will be transformative; it will speed our always evolving efforts to build Delaware’s Community Health Record,” said Jan Lee, MD, DHIN CEO, “At its core, the funds will help us improve the critical sharing of healthcare data among previously unreached sectors of the population: the long-term post-acute care and behavioral health facilities.”

The two-year grant uses federal and matching funds and is performance-based. Specifically, DHIN will use the grant to:

  • Develop and promote better uses of technology in transitions of care to long-term post-acute care and behavioral health facilities
  • Expand the Electronic Notification System, alerting healthcare teams of patient admissions, discharges and transfers from DHIN participating hospitals
  • Automate the entry of continuity of care documentation into the Community Health Record across a wide population of DHIN-enrolled practices
  • Develop and market consumer-based tools to facilitate better access to their personal health information in the Community Health Record

By making the Community Health Record available across the continuum of care, DHIN continues its mission to help Delaware achieve the triple aim of enhancing the patient experience, reducing healthcare costs and improving healthcare. Look for more details about these exciting initiatives in the coming months.

*Department of Health and Human Services grant number 90IX0001/01-00

PRMC and DHIN Work Together to Remove State Line Barriers to Medical Records

DOVER, DE – May 6, 2015 – While technology knows no bounds, the same could not always be said for important medical test results. Until very recently, Delaware residents being treated on the Maryland Eastern Shore did not have the benefit of having medical test results electronically delivered to their Delaware physicians and updated in the state’s community health record, the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN.)

The recent addition of the Eastern Shore’s largest hospital network – Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) based in Salisbury, Maryland – to the system provides for an even more complete community health record for Delawareans.

“With respect to healthcare, the speed at which state lines are blurring continues to accelerate, and the addition of an institution as large as PRMC is momentous,” said Dr. Jan Lee, CEO of DHIN. “We see a time in the very near future when doctors across the country will have seamless and secure exchange of health information across a borderless system, regardless of where the patient lives, works or vacations. These are the first steps to making that level of clinical access a reality.”

When fully online later this year, laboratory, pathology and radiology test results as well as the transcription summaries of thousands of Delawareans who seek care at PRMC will be delivered and accessed through DHIN.

“The days of patients being asked to carry copies of their own records, or of medical practices needing to fax, scan or mail results is diminishing,” added Dr. Lee. “This is a very exciting moment for all of us. It is the deepest across-state-lines agreement we have developed to-date, and it will result in saved time and effort for medical professionals and better care for patients.”

In addition to the flow of information, PRMC doctors and medical practices are being trained on how to use DHIN so they can not only update but have access to previous test results conducted by other hospitals and facilities, dating as far back as 2007.

PRMC is the largest Maryland hospital to join DHIN, continuing the momentum begun in 2013 when Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, MD came aboard and expanding earlier this spring when Union Hospital came onboard. DHIN was the first statewide health information exchange to launch in the United States (May, 2007) and is considered among the nation’s most mature.

About DHIN

DHIN, the Delaware Health Information Network, is the first live, statewide health information network in the nation.  Launched in 2007, today it serves all of Delaware’s acute care hospitals and approaching 100% of the State’s medical providers.  More than 14,000,000 clinical results and reports are delivered through DHIN each year. Total unique patients represented in the system now exceed 2.1 million including patients from all 50 states. For more information about DHIN visit www.DHIN.org or call 302-678-0220.  Please also visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@DHIN_hie).

About Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC)

Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Salisbury, Maryland offers the widest array of specialty and subspecialty services on the Delmarva Peninsula, and has been meeting the healthcare needs of Delmarva Peninsula residents since 1897. PRMC offers a full range of services, including neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, joint replacement, emergency/trauma care, wound care, comprehensive cancer care, pediatrics and outpatient services. PRMC offers access to clinical trials and the latest technologies, including robotic surgery and advanced disease detection and treatment options for safer care, faster recoveries and better outcomes, and has received more than 125 national awards, certifications and recognitions over the past six years for the safety and care it provides patients.

DHIN Welcomes Cecil County’s Union Hospital

Good Healthcare Knows No Borders:

Interstate Exchange of Health Information Benefits Patients 

Dover, DE — April 14, 2015 — Delaware residents who seek medical care across state lines at Elkton’s Union Hospital can rest a little easier, knowing both their Maryland and Delaware healthcare teams will have safe and secure access to the medical information they need to make timely, informed treatment decisions. The availability of this critical information through the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) supports the continuity of a patient’s care and can help prevent stressful, costly readmissions.

Union Hospital is now delivering medical results and reports on Delaware patients to Delaware’s community health record, which ensures safe and secure delivery of this information to healthcare providers. The exchange allows for the patient’s “home” healthcare team to have direct access to the results of any tests or procedures conducted by the care team at Union, helping to create a more complete health record on DHIN.

Sharing this information across state borders helps to reduce costs, save time and improve care by reducing the number of unnecessary and duplicative tests. The system also provides a robust platform for care teams to better coordinate care plans on their shared patients.

“The seamless communication achieved through partnerships like these is key to improving care and reducing healthcare costs,” said Jan Lee, MD, DHIN CEO. “Patients who do not receive timely post-treatment care are at an increased risk of a return visit to the hospital sooner rather than later.”

Immediate access to a patient’s medical history is invaluable, particularly in an emergency, said Kenneth Lewis, MD, JD, Union Hospital President & CEO. “Union Hospital’s collaboration with DHIN is an integral part of our ongoing commitment to provide safe, high-quality health and wellness services.”

Union Hospital is the second Maryland facility to join the DHIN, following the launch of Berlin-based Atlantic General Hospital in 2013.

Additionally, DHIN currently receives high-level data – admission, discharge and transfer summaries – for Delaware patients seen at any Maryland hospital from CRISP (the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients), DHIN’s health information exchange counterpart in Maryland. The same information for hospitals in the District of Columbia is coming soon.

About DHIN

DHIN, the Delaware Health Information Network, is the first live, statewide health information exchange in the nation. Launched in 2007, today, it serves all of Delaware’s acute care hospitals and approaching 100% of the state’s medical providers. More than 14,000,000 deliveries of clinical results and reports are made through DHIN each year. There are a total of 1.9 million unique patients with results on DHIN, including patients from all 50 states. DHIN is sharing real-time clinical information to improve patient outcomes, eliminate the duplication of service and reduce the cost of healthcare. For more information about DHIN visit www.DHIN.org or call 302-678-0220.  Please also visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@DHIN_hie).

About Union Hospital

Union Hospital is an award-winning, full-service community hospital located in Elkton, Maryland. Nationally recognized for clinical excellence in the treatment and prevention of disease, its 122-bed, not-for-profit facility is dedicated to providing superior, personalized, quality health care to its neighbors, families and friends. The Hospital’s mission is to enhance the health and well-being of residents in Cecil County and neighboring communities. Its services combine the latest technology with the warm, personal touch patients expect from a community hospital. Union Hospital has served the residents of Cecil County and the neighboring communities in Delaware and southern Pennsylvania since 1908. For more information, go to: www.uhcc.com.

The First State – First in Healthcare IT

Delaware Health Information Network Recognizes National Health IT Week

Dover, Delaware – September 18, 2014 – Health information technology improves the quality of healthcare delivery, increases patient safety, decreases medical errors and strengthens the interaction between patients and healthcare providers. To mark the important role health information technology plays in improving healthcare delivery in America, the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) takes great pride in celebrating National Health Information Technology Week.

In 2007 the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) became the first live, statewide health information network in the nation. More than 14 million clinical results and reports are delivered through the DHIN each year, with 100% of Delaware’s acute care hospitals and nearly all of Delaware’s doctors and medical practices participating.

DHIN makes it possible to deliver higher quality medical care more quickly, and at a lower cost, securely delivering patient information and test results from hospitals, laboratories and radiology facilities directly to doctors providing clinical care.

“National Health IT Week helps highlight DHIN’s commitment to ensure health information technology is integrated, interactive, interoperable and intelligent to provide the best patient outcomes”, said Randy Farmer, DHIN’s Chief Operating Officer. “The improved communication made possible through DHIN helps save time, money and lives.”

About DHIN

DHIN, the Delaware Health Information Network, is the first live, statewide health information network in the nation. Launched in 2007, today it serves all of Delaware’s acute care hospitals and approaching 100% of the State’s medical providers. More than 14,000,000 clinical results and reports are posted on DHIN each year. Total patient records in the system now exceed 1.9 million including patients from all 50 states. For more information about DHIN visit www.DHIN.org or call 302-678-0220.  Please also visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@DHIN_hie) 

Testimonials

“DHIN helps me learn about new patients. I can review previous radiology, lab, and pathology reports and consults. It helps me manage the patient in practice and discuss their conditions.”

– Dr. Dyanne Westerberg, AccentCare

Delaware Health Information Network - Empowering Data-Driven Decisions

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