Commonwell, Carequality aim to expand data exchange

Two industry initiatives that have worked together to advance interoperability are teaming again to further expand connectivity.

Commonwell Health Alliance, a vendor-led organization that embeds interoperability services into health information systems, brings its 3-year-old health information exchange to the table.

Carequality has been working on a governance framework that enables different networks to link to each other in much the same way that the telephone system works—pick a participating stakeholder listed in Carequality’s data repository and make the connection.

Now, CommonWell has rolled out a new connection to the Carequality Framework which is available to Commonwell members to increase connectivity. The connection will enable providers using Commonwell or Carequality, through participating electronic health record vendors, to connect and bilaterally exchange data to improve care coordination and delivery.

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“We are proud to break down yet another barrier to interoperability by making this connection available to our members and their clients,” says Jitin Asnaani, executive director at CommonWell. “This increased connectivity will empower providers with access to patient data critical to their health care decision-making.”



The new connectivity option follows a successful round of testing by EHR vendors Cerner and Greenway Health with some of their clients. Since the test connection went live in July, Commonwell-enabled providers have bilaterally exchanged more than 200,000 documents with Carequality-enabled providers locally and across the nation.

“The CommonWell-Carequality connection provides us with the opportunity to directly access our patients’ records from the tertiary care centers in our region,” says Michael Donnenwerth, MD, a podiatry specialist at Winona Health and a Cerner client. “We are now able to integrate new medications and problems into our EHR seamlessly, which provides the most accurate and up-to-date information possible. This flow of information has not only connected our medical records, but it has allowed us to truly provide better care as the ambiguity of outside doctor visits has been virtually eliminated.”

David Callecod, president and CEO of Lafayette General Health in Louisiana and a Cerner client, adds that the CommonWell-Carequality connection is a powerful tool that brings better communication, care and outcomes.