NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Change Healthcare today announced that it has been awarded a six-year contract by CommonWell Health Alliance® to continue to provide clinical interoperability services, including patient identification and record locator services (RLS), and document retrieval to CommonWell to support both treatment and patient access. The new contract extends the existing five-year relationship, whereby CommonWell and Change Healthcare will jointly support clinical data interoperability for Americans, and paves the way for providing additional value-added services to benefit Alliance members and their participating clients, including some of the largest acute and ambulatory facilities in the nation. CommonWell already connects more than 13,000 provider sites, with records for more than 50 million unique individuals.
In recent years, market trends such as value-based payment and an increased focus on cost and quality transparency have driven the need for prompt and complete access to clinical information. Along with the expected final 21st Century Cures Act regulations, including the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), there is now momentum for universal clinical records interoperability. This agreement builds upon five years of technology development and helps position CommonWell to support the Cures Act and the TEFCA goals around frictionless, inclusive interoperability.
“The extension of this relationship is a validation of the momentum we’ve gained toward patient-centric, universal interoperability—helping to ensure that health information is shared securely and seamlessly across the entire care continuum,” said Kris Joshi, EVP and president, Network Solutions, Change Healthcare. “Alliances like this play a critical role in improving data exchange among industry stakeholders, and we’re honored to continue our partnership with CommonWell to enable broader use of interoperability capabilities. Change Healthcare is committed to advancing healthcare interoperability for all healthcare stakeholders, particularly patients and their caregivers.”
By providing these services to CommonWell, Change Healthcare is paving the way for health IT interoperability that reduces cost barriers, meets federally mandated requirements, and sets the stage for new innovations to better address value-based payment and consumer needs.
“The vision of CommonWell has always been that health data should be available to individuals and caregivers regardless of where care occurs,” said Jitin Asnaani, executive director, CommonWell Health Alliance. “Our partnership with Change Healthcare has enabled us to rapidly grow our national network—a critical component for ubiquitous interoperability—as we work towards making this vision a reality. We look forward to this next phase of health data exchange as we continue our work together to empower clinicians, practitioners, and individuals to improve care coordination, the patient experience, and health outcomes."
From its interconnected and market-neutral position at the center of healthcare, Change Healthcare provides scalable, secure, and always-on interoperability services using advanced technologies. These services protect patient privacy and enforce consent practices by leveraging open standards like FHIR, HL7, and open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to integrate with all relevant endpoints, including electronic health record systems and consumer facing healthcare applications, in accordance with evolving regulations. Change Healthcare’s Intelligent Healthcare NetworkTM, one of the largest clinical and financial healthcare networks in the U.S., facilitates the transfer of data across healthcare providers, payers, pharmacies, labs, and consumers. Last year, it processed nearly 14 billion healthcare transactions, representing over $1 trillion in healthcare expenditures.
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About CommonWell Health Alliance
CommonWell Health Alliance is a not-for-profit trade association of health care and technology organizations working together to create universal access to health data nationwide. CommonWell members represent more than 20 care settings, including market leaders and technology innovators in acute, ambulatory and post-acute care, patient portals, imaging, population health, emergency services and more. CommonWell and its members are committed to the belief that provider access to health data must be built into information technologies at a reasonable cost for use by a broad range of health care providers and the populations and people they serve.
To learn more about CommonWell Health Alliance, visit commonwellalliance.org. Engage with CommonWell on its blog, as well as through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter using the handle, @CommonWell. CommonWell Health Alliance® and the CommonWell Logo are registered trademarks of CommonWell Health Alliance Inc.
About Change Healthcare
Change Healthcare is a leading independent healthcare technology company that provides data and analytics-driven solutions to improve clinical, financial and patient engagement outcomes in the U.S. healthcare system. We are a key catalyst of a value-based healthcare system, accelerating the journey toward improved lives and healthier communities. Learn more at changehealthcare.com.
