MedVirginia and Troutman Sanders, LLP released a recent statement in MD News.com: "According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 20% of seniors have five or more chronic conditions for which these patients visit an average of 13 separate providers and receive an average of 50 prescriptions. Given this statistic, how can the 13th physician safely and effectively treat a patient without the benefit of any prior medical information?"
MedVirginia' s and Troutman Sanders, LLP's solution is the adoption of their health information exchange (HIE) system. HIE is the electronic transmission of medical information, a more rapid and possibly more efficient way of sharing medical information rather than the traditional means in person, courier, fax or phone.
Steven Gravely, J.D., M.H.A., partner and leader of the Health Care Practice Group at Troutman Sanders, LLP, told the media source: “By designing legal agreements, procedures and policies to ensure electronic personal health information is transacted appropriately, we give the physicians and patients faith in the HIE system.” He added, “In 2011, we are seeing that participating in HIE activities is becoming a standard of care,”
The press release claimed that the average process for an individual claim takes approximately four months. But with the application of the HIE, MedVirginia will return a full report of the individual’s medical information within 60 seconds when matched to the system's algorithm.
A health information exchange would be a focus in Assisted Living and Nursing Care Residences.