Vynca and Delaware Health Information Network Partner to Implement End-of-Life Medical Orders Registry

PALO ALTO, Calif. & DOVER, Del.—Aug. 1, 2017—Vynca, provider of sustainable advance care planning solutions, and Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), the nation’s first statewide health information exchange, have established a partnership to facilitate the capture, storage and sharing of end-of-life medical orders across the care continuum.

Vynca offers a comprehensive software solution to capture, store, and access medical orders for Scope of Treatment forms, (e.g. POLST, MOLST) which are vital in ensuring that patients’ end-of-life wishes are met. The organizations will collaborate to create an electronic registry that provides a single source of advance care planning documentation instantly accessible online to authorized healthcare providers in any care setting. Work on the project commenced earlier this month, and the registry is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

“We are excited to support DHIN and its commitment to helping providers in Delaware to honor patients’ end-of-life choices,” said Maria Siambekos, Chief Executive Officer of Vynca. “The impact on patients and families when their wishes aren’t met can be devastating. We are hearing from an increasing number of healthcare organizations that this is a critical and highpriority issue. Vynca’s Advance Care Planning technology solution is flexible to support healthcare organizations across the care continuum to meet the needs of their patients at such an important time.”

End-of-life medical orders allow people with serious, life-limiting illnesses to document their care preferences. However, the lack of infrastructure to support and sustain an electronic registry can make it difficult for providers to find and access patients’ documents, especially during emergencies. In addition, patients’ end-of-life wishes are accurately documented only about 30 percent of the time,1 and about 25 percent of paper forms have an avoidable error that renders them unusable.2

Vynca‘s robust platform ensures that documentation truly reflects patient preferences, enabling best practices for advance care planning. Completed documents are easily accessible by multiple providers across a variety of care settings. The platform offers seamless provider workflow through electronic health record (EHR) integration, which eliminates redundant data entry, improves accuracy, and saves time.
Vynca and Delaware Health Information Network Partner to Implement End-of-Life Medical Orders Registry, page 2

“In an effort to close any gaps in making a patient’s end-of-life wishes known to his or her physician, the Delaware legislature earlier this year mandated these wishes be standardized through the Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment Act,” said Jan Lee, MD, Chief Executive Officer of DHIN. “DHIN is committed to partnering with the Goals of Care Delaware Steering Committee in making this critical information easily accessible to healthcare providers through Delaware’s Community Health Record.” 

About the Goals of Care Delaware Program Goals of Care Delaware (GoCD) is a program of the Delaware Academy of Medicine and the Delaware Public Health Association. The GoCD Steering Committee leads the Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (DMOST) program.

About Vynca Vynca, based in Palo Alto, Calif., provides comprehensive advance care planning solutions that enable healthcare organizations to deliver consistent, high-quality end-of-life care. The company helps patients and healthcare providers have meaningful conversations about care preferences, document wishes accurately, and provide real-time access to this critical information throughout the care continuum. Vynca offers expertise in building state registries, having partnered with the Oregon POLST Registry. It also was selected as the technology vendor for the California POLST Registry Pilot. The system is customized to the needs of healthcare organizations and state agencies, and provides full EHR integration. For more information, visit www.vynca.org. Follow Vynca on Facebook and Twitter @VyncaHealth.

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References 1. Heyland D, Barwich D, Pichora D, et al. Failure to engage hospitalized elderly patients and their families in advance care planning. JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173(9):778–787. 2. Schmidt T. Oregon POLST Registry Annual Report. Oregon2013.