WISHIN's work to establish a statewide health information network has Wisconsin on the verge of a "tipping point," according to Medicity CEO Nancy Ham.

Ham was the keynote speaker at WISHIN's HIE summit meeting on March 16 at the Glacier Canyon Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. More than 80 representatives of hospitals, health systems, post-acute-care facilities and others were in attendance to learn about WISHIN's progress in building health information exchange services in Wisconsin and to get an overview of similar efforts across the nation.

Medicity is WISHIN's technical partner, providing the technology that powers the WISHIN Pulse community health record and WISHIN Direct+ secure messaging. In her keynote address, Ham put the progress that's been made in Wisconsin in a national context.

Ham stressed the importance of health information exchange (HIE) services in creating "clinically connected communities." As health care providers move toward value-based care and consider their need to address population health, technology is critical, she said.

Medicity provides the technical backbone for nine statewide and 12 regional health information exchanges. Ham observed that typically participation in these so-called "public" HIEs grows incrementally, building to a "tipping point," after which participation and utilization of services increases rapidly. She referenced statistics shared by WISHIN CEO Joe Kachelski showing that the WISHIN network now includes clinical information from 3.6 million unique patients from 1,300 sites of care across the state.

The HIE summit also featured a discussion by a panel of WISHIN customers about the value they are realizing and expect to realize as a result of their participation:

The HIE summit concluded with a pair of presentations from two of WISHIN's sister organizations. 

Pam Russell of the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) talked about CORHIO's success in improving transitions from acute to post-acute-care settings, reducing the average amount of time spent locating patient health care records by an average of 29 hours per admission.

Corey Bovair of Coastal Connect Health Information Exchange (CCHIE) of North Carolina discussed CCHIE's use of electronic notifications to coordinate care and manage at-risk patients, including those at risk for readmission. 

WISHIN expects that the HIE summit will become an annual event.  More information will be forthcoming in future editions of WISHIN Connections.