CDC Selects Surescripts to Electronically Link Nation's Hospital Labs and Public Health Agencies
Monday, February 21, 2011
Surescripts Forms Lab Interoperability Cooperative with
American Hospital Association and College of American Pathologists
to Support Meaningful Use
ARLINGTON, Va. - February 21, 2011 - Surescripts,
the American Hospital Association and the College of American
Pathologists today announced they have been awarded a grant by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to connect hospital
laboratories with public health agencies to electronically transmit
data on reportable laboratory results. The three organizations will
work together in what the CDC calls a "Lab Interoperability
Cooperative."
During the two-year grant period, the AHA, CAP and Surescripts
will recruit, educate and connect a minimum of 500 hospital labs -
at least 100 will be critical access or rural hospitals - to the
appropriate public health agencies. The cooperative will provide
the necessary technical assistance to enable these hospital labs to
begin electronically transmitting lab results within six
months.
The CDC grant will help hospital laboratories meet criteria
established by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT
for meaningful use of EHRs -- criteria that includes submission of
electronic data on reportable laboratory results to public health
agencies.
Electronic laboratory reporting has many benefits, including
improved timeliness of reporting, reduction of manual data entry
errors and reports that are more complete. Electronic laboratory
reporting has been promoted as a public health priority for the
past several years and its inclusion as a meaningful use objective
for public health serves as a catalyst to accelerate its
adoption.
"The CDC is delighted to work with this diverse cooperative," said
Seth Foldy, director of the Public Health Informatics and
Technology Program Office at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. "As a result of this effort, hundreds of hospitals will
engage in electronic reporting that helps public health act more
rapidly and efficiently to control disease."
"Today's announcement is the latest example of how Surescripts is
expanding its network to support all types of clinical messaging,"
said Harry Totonis, president and CEO of Surescripts. "Our work
with the CDC also carries forward the legacy of the Surescripts
network's role in public health initiatives. Whether helping state
health officials to monitor the potential spread of the H1N1 virus
or providing critical prescription information to those caring for
Hurricane Katrina evacuees, these examples combine with the CDC's
latest efforts to underscore the value that clinical
interoperability brings to health care providers, their patients
and the nation overall."
"America's hospitals are working to advance the quality of care
they provide to patients and communities through greater adoption
and use of electronic health records," said Rich Umbdenstock,
president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. "The
challenge now is to extend its use and integrate it into the
routine care processes in all hospitals, big and small, in both
rural and urban areas and efforts like the one today take us in
that direction."
"This Lab Interoperability Cooperative is another example of how
the CAP continues to advance meaningful health information exchange
in the laboratory and health IT space," said Charles Wagner, vice
president, CAP STS (SNOMED Terminology Solutions™). "CAP STS
specializes in clinical interoperability and systems integration,
and we're committed to improving patient care."
A Catalyst for Interoperability
While technical standards exist to enable the secure, electronic
exchange of lab results, the implementation and use of these
standards by the commercial labs, hospitals and providers has been
limited. By engaging hospital labs, which handle the majority of
lab tests in the United States, the cooperative not only represents
a unique opportunity to advance lab interoperability with public
health agencies, but with the nation's health care system
overall.
By enabling e-prescribing as well as the secure electronic
exchange of clinical information (e.g., lab test results,
referrals, patient summaries, discharge summaries), the Surescripts
network offers broad support for the meaningful use of electronic
health records. Taken together, these capabilities facilitate
clinical interoperability, helping to improve health care quality
and safety while reducing the cost of care. The Surescripts Network
for Clinical Interoperability will support all federal and state
policies and standards for health information exchange - including
privacy and security standards (such as HIPAA and state law),
technology interoperability standards (such as NHIN Direct and NHIN
Exchange) and message types such as HL7.
In the coming weeks and months, the AHA and CAP will be providing
more information to hospital executives and laboratory pathologists
on how they can take advantage of this unique opportunity. Those
attending this week's HIMSS conference can learn more by visiting
the Surescripts booth (#3673).
# # #
About Surescripts
The Surescripts network supports the most comprehensive ecosystem
of health care organizations nationwide. Pharmacies, payers,
pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), physicians, hospitals, health
information exchanges and health technology firms rely on
Surescripts to more easily and securely share health information.
Guided by the principles of privacy, security, neutrality, choice,
transparency, collaboration and quality, Surescripts operates the
nation's largest health information network. By providing that
information for routine, recurring and emergency care, Surescripts
is committed to saving lives, improving efficiency and reducing the
cost of health care for all. For more information, go to www.surescripts.com and
follow us at twitter.com/surescripts.
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About the AHA
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider
organizations and individuals that are committed to the health
improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate
for its members, which includes 5,000 hospitals, health care
systems, networks, other providers of care and 37,000 individual
members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health
care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues
and trends. For more information, visit the AHA Web site at www.aha.org.
About CAP STS
CAP STS (SNOMED Terminology Solutions™), a division of the College
of American Pathologists (CAP), offers clients services and
solutions related to health IT strategy and planning; clinical
health information management; and health care standards. CAP STS
works with provider organizations, hospitals, health IT vendors,
health information exchange initiatives, universities, research
centers, and government agencies throughout the world. CAP STS'
DIHIT (Diagnostic Intelligence and Health Information Technology)
team advances health IT standards, practices, and tools, such as
the CAP Diagnostic Work Station initiative; and standardized
electronic reporting, including the CAP electronic Cancer
Checklists (CAP eCC).
The College of American Pathologists is a medical society serving
more than 17,000 physician members and the laboratory community
throughout the world. It is the world's largest association
composed exclusively of board-certified pathologists and is widely
considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance. The College
is an advocate for high-quality and cost-effective patient care.
For more information, visit www.capsts.org or write to
capsts@cap.org.
Press Contacts:
Rob Cronin
Surescripts
917-414-5289
rob.cronin@surescripts.com
Matthew Fenwick
AHA
312-422-2820
mfenwick@aha.org
Candace Robertson
CAP STS
847-832-7764
crobertson@cap.org
