Military families receiving care at Hawaii Pacific Health hospitals and clinics now benefit from secure health information exchange with Department of Defense (DoD) hospitals and clinics.
The DoD, working in partnership with Hawaii Pacific Health, established the real-time electronic interchange in April as part of a broader national effort to integrate electronic health records for the care of military service members. The DoD system, which uses the national eHealth Exchange, directly accesses Hawaii Pacific Health’s electronic health records using Epic’s Care Everywhere platform. In Hawaii, this means that doctors at Tripler Army Medical Center are able to retrieve electronic health records for patients who have visited specialists’ offices, labs or emergency rooms in any one of Hawaii Pacific Health’s four hospitals and 50 outpatient centers.
“Accurate historical medical information at the point of care is invaluable to making the right choices for diagnosis and treatment,” says Dr. James Lin, medical director of informatics for Hawaii Pacific Health and pediatrician at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. “Coordinating care across clinics and hospitals with Care Everywhere and the Department of Defense will greatly increase the quality and collaboration of care for our military patients and families. The time saved in obtaining needed information makes all the difference in providing the right care at the right time.”
Hawaii Pacific Health has used Epic’s Care Everywhere since 2011 to securely and safely exchange more than 980,000 records to date in support of patient care. In addition to linking with eHealth Exchange, Care Everywhere supports direct connections from Hawaii Pacific Health to the Hawaii Health Information Exchange and more than 100 organizations in 45 states, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration, and local hospitals.
“Given the value these services have for our active duty military members and their families, it’s our hope that other organizations will quickly follow,” says Hawaii Pacific Health Chief Information Officer Steve Robertson. “Providing a more complete medical record to the DoD for better patient care is a service we are happy to provide. It’s part of our mission, but it’s also an honor given the sacrifices our military personnel make for our country.”
About Hawaii Pacific Health
Hawaii Pacific Health is a not-for-profit health care network of hospitals, clinics, physicians and other caregivers serving Hawaii and the Pacific Region with high quality, compassionate care. It is anchored by four hospitals—Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Pali Momi Medical Center, Straub Clinic & Hospital, and Wilcox Memorial Hospital—with innovative initiatives in women’s health, pediatric care, cardiovascular services, cancer care, and bone and joint services. Hawaii Pacific Health is recognized nationally for its excellence in health information technology, specifically the use of electronic health records to improve quality of care and patient safety. Learn more at hawaiipacifichealth.org.