McKesson has introduced an interoperability platform that will enable physician practices to securely exchange information with other doctors, patients, hospitals, and insurance companies. The new messaging platform is part of version 9.3.3 of Practice Partner, McKesson’s electronic health record and medical billing software. Practice Partner Connect software is designed to exchange clinical and financial data via any type of health information exchange. HIE systems are deployed within a region, community, or hospital system for moving healthcare information electronically.
McKesson’s Practice Partner Connect software will be a means to simplify and streamline the necessary electronic communication for more collaborative, safer and more efficient healthcare. In the Partner Connect records all activities are recorded within the system and thus provides physicians with full control of data. Information that can be shared includes the treatment of patients, eligibility checks, and billing. The increased visibility across institutions is a requirement under the meaningful use criteria for healthcare providers accepting funds under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes a $20 billion health IT stimulus program.
Along with the new interoperability platform, version 9.3.3 of Practice Partner features McKesson’s Bright Note Technology that instantly populates data on a patient’s electronic chart. The processing technology enables physicians to use their preferred charting style to capture data in a single screen note and synchronize search able data across a chart. McKesson’s latest product announcement followed a week after the company announced that it would offer customers the option of buying its EHR and practice management software bundled with Hewlett-Packard hardware, including desktop computers, notebooks, and thin-client devices.
source: www.informationweek.com