HIE network will leverage NextGate's EMPI solution to improve patient identification and enhance care collaboration among providers throughout Alaska

PASADENA, Calif., June 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NextGate, a global leader in healthcare enterprise identification, announced today that healtheConnect Alaska (formerly, the Alaska eHealth Network) a leading health information exchange (HIE), has selected its Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) as the foundation for enhanced care collaboration and patient identity management.

healtheConnect Alaska currently enables electronic medical records exchange and direct secure messaging services for more than 500 participants statewide, including AARP Alaska, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, Providence Health System, and the State of Alaska’s Department of Health & Social Services.

As a strategic component for population health management efforts and health information exchange activities, NextGate’s maket-leading EMPI solution will enable real-time interoperability and patient matching across health IT systems from more than 20 hospitals and 450 healthcare organizations within healtheConnect Alaska’s network, to deliver a comprehensive view of an individual’s medical record. The partnership with NextGate further strengthens the HIE’s ability to execute downstream projects including bi-directional data exchange with the Veteran’s Administration, integration with statewide behavioral health organizations, and supporting opioid and chronic illness management initiatives.

“healtheConnect Alaska is very excited to be working with NextGate to take the HIE to the next level and truly influence care quality, provider experience and, ultimately, health outcomes throughout our communities,” said Laura Young, Executive Director of healtheConnect Alaska. “Effective coordination between providers hinges on the ability to view accurate data from across the network. The EMPI Platform will play a significant role in our transformational journey toward improved care team collaboration, workflow efficiency, and the creation of a more holistic and real-time portrait of patients." 

Through NextGate’s EMPI, healtheConnect Alaska will empower participating physicians and hospitals with a longitudinal patient record at the point of care for improved coordination and clinical decision making. Patient matching algorithms in the EMPI unify and de-duplicate records from multiple sources and locations and assign each individual a unique patient identifier that serves as cross-reference for greater data exchange.

“We commend healtheConnect Alaska for prioritizing patient identity as the basis for measurable clinical and population health improvements,” said Andy Aroditis, CEO of NextGate. “Consistently connecting the right data to the right individual is a critical requirement in today's digitized healthcare environment and NextGate is honored to support their members with a patient matching solution that reduces errors, improves patient safety, and enhances care quality, while diminishing the complexity of interoperability.”

About NextGate

With over 200 customers in four countries, NextGate is the global leader in healthcare enterprise identification. Committed to helping organizations overcome the clinical, operational and financial challenges that result from duplicate records and disparate data, our full suite of identity matching solutions connects the entire healthcare ecosystem to drive critical improvements in quality, efficiency and safety. NextGate's market-leading EMPI currently manages 300 million lives and is deployed by the nation's most successful healthcare systems and health information exchanges. For more information, visit NextGate.com.

About healtheConnect Alaska

healtheConnect Alaska (formerly Alaska ehealth Network) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, established by Alaska statute, and organized and managed by Alaskans. healtheconnect Alaska has been tasked by the State of Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services to provide safe, secure transport for health information in order to improve quality and safety of patient care and increase efficiencies for hospitals and medical practices. healtheconnect Alaska provides health information exchange and direct secure messaging services to more than 20 hospitals and 450 healthcare organizations across Alaska. Benefits to these organizations include: confidential and timely access to patient’s medical history no matter where a patient receives care; rapid medical record search for historical patient data, augmenting diagnosis and treatment; public health reporting assistance to meet meaningful use requirements; reduced interface costs due to a single entry point; referrals and referral documents transmitted automatically; and notifications of selected events including admission, discharge, and abnormal lab results. For more information, visit www.ak-ehealth.org 

Stephanie Fraser
                  NextGate
                  734-399-9336
                  stephanie.freaser@nextgate.com