Company Invests $10 Million over Next 12 Months to Expand Open Interoperability Among Healthcare Providers; Network Currently Supports 10,000 Physicians and Growing Rapidly
WESTBOROUGH, Mass.—September 17, 2012—eClinicalWorks®, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today launches Join The Network™, an open means for healthcare providers to access a secure peer-to-peer communications network. With 10,000 physicians already part of the network, eClinicalWorks is investing an additional $10 million over the next 12 months to further enhance and expand the network to ensure healthcare providers can connect with each other for patient care regardless of what electronic health records (EHR) system is in use or if the practice is using paper records.
“One challenge I face as a physician is being able to collaborate with other providers on a patient’s treatment plan or evaluation in a way that is secure but efficient and ensures accuracy,” said Dr. Bradley Block, of Block, Nation, Chase, Smolen Family Medicine from Oviedo, Fla. “With this peer-to-peer network, we have built a large community of providers that was simple to create and grow. This platform improves accuracy of patient medical information sharing.”
Medical practices are getting “wired behind walls,” even those using EHR systems are utilizing ones that don’t talk to each other; as a result, physicians are still relying on fax machines to transfer patient records and coordinate patient care. The lack of interoperability is a significant barrier to patient satisfaction and improving patient care. Interoperability has thus far been perceived as aggregation of data from multiple systems while this venture uses an open peer to peer network to share relevant information between providers regardless of the system they are using. This system-neutral solution allows the open, electronic transfer of records between any healthcare provider.
“We are making this investment because we believe that optimal physician collaboration is central to improving the overall quality of patient care,” said Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks. “We feel that an open, secure network will help move the industry forward. And, over time we will enhance the network so medical professionals in a range of ambulatory care settings can participate.”
This peer-to-peer network will support national standards or networks and will be Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) Direct compatible, making interoperability affordable. Members that Join The Network are able to:
• Easily find and connect with providers;
• Send electronic referrals to other providers along with demographic and insurance information, saving time and reducing errors;
• Transmit patient records with attachments, including progress notes, lab results, medical summary and patient scanned documents;
• Automatically receive recommended providers in the area;
• Find providers using a member-specified radius and specialty; and
• Build personal address book.
This open network can be accessed via www.jointhenetwork.com or www.p2popen.com.
