OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Netsmart has announced plans to release industry-first interoperability standards to improve communication between primary care and community-based healthcare providers. The new standards are designed to improve referral management, close communication gaps and enable transparency between care settings.
The healthcare IT partner is taking steps to improve clinical care delivery by implementing the new 360X standards that support the automation of closed-loop referrals, helping to streamline the ways primary care providers (PCPs) are informed and how they can track consumers as they see specialists outside of a primary care setting.
“Interoperability and the seamless sharing of information have always been at the forefront of the development for Netsmart solutions and services,” said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. “Being able to further connect all of healthcare is vital to ensuring the best health outcomes for individuals and for healthcare organizations to thrive in a value-based landscape. Together with Netsmart technology and that of our primary care counterparts, we’re making it happen.”
Providers benefit from being informed of a person’s referral status as they transfer care settings, so they can accurately measure not only the progress but also ensure timely access to care. At the same time, they are also responsible for tracking clinical outcomes as part of participation in integrated care models.
Historically, when a PCP refers an individual to other providers, they are sometimes unintentionally left out of communication regarding that individual. The PCP often does not know whether the referral was accepted, whether an appointment was scheduled, if the person was seen or what the outcome was of the visit, which can be detrimental to the physician’s ability to deliver true value-based care. PCPs can find themselves needing to track down the information on their own, which is inefficient and time-consuming.
Through their partnership with OCHIN to connect with primary care providers, Oregon-based mental health and substance use services provider and Netsmart client LifeWorks NW connects with primary care organization Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center to share behavioral health and primary care information as part of their participation in a Federally Qualified Health Center model. The new 360X standards will enable Virginia Garcia’s PCPs to receive automated updates on the status of and any clinical summaries resulting from their referrals directly into their electronic health record (EHR).
“LifeWorks NW has a long history of leveraging interoperability and data sharing as key strategic initiatives driving integrated care models and deep partnerships with primary care and hospital partners,” said LifeWorks NW Vice President of Operations Katy Beveridge. “We are excited to partner with Netsmart and OCHIN on the innovation of 360X closed-loop referrals, as it is critical to our mission to provide real-time visibility and collaboration with our partners while decreasing provider burden to better serve our consumers.”
Netsmart demonstrated a live, real-world example of 360X closed-loop referral management in practice at the 2018 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) annual meeting. Most recently, a use case at the HIMSS19 Interoperability Showcase successfully demonstrated the complete life cycle of a patient’s journey through multiple care settings, including the full-circle exchange of information to and from a PCP by way of Netsmart, Epic, Cerner and NextGen solutions, among others.
As a founding member of the Carequality interoperability framework, Netsmart is no stranger to leading the way when it comes to driving forward and progressing interoperability standards.
“It’s about bringing healthcare further together, breaking down walls and silos so providers, regardless of setting, can deliver the most fully-informed care possible,” said Valentine. “As we maintain our mission to support efficient information exchange, we’ll continue to take needed steps to further the impact interoperability and connectivity have on how care is delivered.”
Netsmart became the first EHR technology provider in the human services community to test, demonstrate and commit to moving 360X standards into production.
About Netsmart
Netsmart designs, builds and delivers electronic health records (EHRs), solutions and services that are powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use. Our platform provides accurate, up-to-date information that is easily accessible to care team members in behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services. We make the complex simple and personalized so our clients can concentrate on what they do best: provide services and treatment that support whole-person care.
By leveraging the powerful Netsmart network, care providers can seamlessly and securely integrate information across communities, collaborate on the most effective treatments and improve outcomes for those in their care. Our streamlined systems and personalized workflows put relevant information at the fingertips of users when and where they need it.
For 50 years, Netsmart has been committed to providing a common platform to integrate care. SIMPLE. PERSONAL. POWERFUL.
Our more than 1,700 associates work hand-in-hand with our 600,000+ users in more than 25,000 organizations across the U.S. to develop and deploy technology that automates and coordinates everything from clinical to financial to administrative.
Learn more about how Netsmart is changing the face of healthcare today. Visit www.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on our CareThreads Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube.
Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters® Foundation, which was established for behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories.
