InterComponentWare, Inc. (ICW)
eHealth Infrastructure
InterComponentWare Inc.’s ehealth infrastructure, a highly secure and fully interoperable technology platform, enables access to aggregated health data to authorized patients, providers and payers.
ICW’s international implementation of the ehealth infrastructure has laid the foundation for the Bulgarian Ministry of Health to launch a National Health Portal and electronic personal ambulatory books (ePAB), two initiatives aimed at increasing patient access to services and improving wellness through greater personal responsibility. The Bulgarians have thoroughly tested the secure identification feature of the infrastructure and are successfully using it for eprescribing with an initial group of 40,000 state employees.
In the German state of Baden Wurttenberg, the platform’s security and interoperability of the ICW ehealth infrastructure support the insurer AOK’s enhanced health plan that provides GPs with incentives for offering expanded office hours and for optimally treating a patient’s condition on the first visit (measured by rate of repeat visits). Patient access, cost reductions and improved quality of care are the drivers of this effort.
In the United States, ICW is partnering with SureScripts-RxHub to enable bi-directional communications between prescribers and pharmacies to deliver the next-generation of prescription health information exchange. The enhanced communication and expanded message types, made possible by the ICW ehealth infrastructure, allow for a focus on medication history. Over 8,000 physicians and clinics are involved in the first phase of this effort with a full national rollout scheduled for 2009.
Results
- It is anticipated that over 100,000,000 prescriptions will be filled electronically in 2008 with complete health information available.
- It is also predicted that medication error rates and the number of redundant prescriptions will drop.
***Submitted by Anne Marie Heil, ICW, amheil@amheil.com
Published: January 26, 2009
