MHN integrates patient data with EMR systems to enable better care

Medical Home Network (MHN) is helping healthcare providers have more informed conversations with patients by enabling easy access to patient data in one place. With a timely and comprehensive view of patient information, providers can make more informed decisions and ultimately deliver better care.

MHN is integrating patient data across different electronic medical record systems (EMRs) for 13 providers and more than 160,000 Medicaid safety net patients, making data accessible to providers when and where they need it. The EMR integration, in partnership with athenahealth’s Platform Services and other technology partners, complements MHN’s care management platform, MHNConnect. System interoperability reaches providers who are not on the platform as well as doctors with patient records in more than one system.

The EMR system integration enhances care coordination because it gives healthcare providers real-time alerts about hospital admissions and discharges and prompts them to follow up with patients on tasks outlined in their discharge plans. At a glance, practitioners can view patient histories and care plans, assess their adherence to prescription medications and review actions taken in skilled nursing facilities. More access to timely information can potentially avert unnecessary emergency room visits or hospital readmissions.

“This important step toward interoperability is breaking down barriers in care management and supports the entire patient journey across all settings,” said Cheryl Lulias, Medical Home Network president and CEO.

Key data points delivered in the EMR integration include emergency department visits; inpatient, skilled nursing facility and home health admissions; and primary care, behavioral health and specialty outpatient visits.

“It really fills in gaps and leads to better conversations with patients,” said Dr. Stephen S. Stabile, a family physician at PrimeCare Health in Chicago and an MHN medical director. “For instance, if I see that a patient saw a specialist that I didn’t know they were seeing, it prompts me to inquire more.”

Patient information is provided in the MHN Baseball Card™, which provides a comprehensive view of a patient’s data, and is securely integrated in the EMR and assigned to a particular provider.

“This is about driving care enabling technology to surface the right data at the right time and improve providers workflows from within EMR,” said Laura Merrick, director of program management and eSolutions at MHN. “Now providers can see comprehensive patient information without having to spend time tracking down records.”

Rollout Begins in Primary Care Clinics

MHN partnered with athenahealth, the largest of the EMR companies among MHN’s provider partners, to develop a scalable approach within a clinically integrated network. athenahealth supported the rollout of the system, which went live in November, to the first eight federally qualified health center partners. Rollout to other EMR systems and the clinics they serve will continue into 2022.

“We applaud Medical Home Network for taking this step toward creating an interoperable ecosystem that will help providers deliver better coordinated patient care,” said Paul Brient, athenahealth’s chief product officer. “At athenahealth, we have built our core applications, from the beginning, on an open, connected, cloud-based platform to enable exactly these types of connections in healthcare. We are proud to help organizations like MHN make clinical information from across the healthcare continuum easier for providers to act on, helping to drive better patient experiences and outcomes.”