Michigan Helath Connect Draws 422 Physician Practices
GRAND RAPIDS -- More than 1,000 doctors in 422 practices across Michigan have joined Michigan Health Connect and are using Medicity's iNexx Referrals app to automate health care referrals for patients.
The process helps deliver pertinent patient information quickly, completely and securely.
"The iNexx Referrals app eliminates a significant workflow bottleneck for physician practices," said Doug Dietzman, executive director of Michigan Health Connect. "It gets rid of the manual process of completing a paper referral form, faxing it and then trading calls with the other physician's office to make sure it arrived.
"Perhaps most important for patients, the automated system guarantees that their complete medical information and test results arrive in a timely manner," Dietzman said.
Once physicians start using the app, they encourage their referring partners to adopt iNexx and join their eReferral network. The app is free to physician practices. It's widely used by primary care providers, specialists, homecare providers, behavioral health organizations and community clinics.
"I no longer have to wait for my staff to trade phone calls and faxes while patients wait to be seen," said Brian Stork, M.D., a urologist at West Shore Urology in Muskegon. "By providing access to information before a patient comes in to see me, iNexx Referrals has helped me provide faster and safer care. Plus, I can make sure patients have the education and preparation materials they need before they come into the office, which boosts patient satisfaction."
Primary care physicians and specialists are sending approximately 4,000 referrals per month using this process.
The 422 physician practices that have joined Michigan Health Connect are located in 76 cities and 32 counties, ranging from Grand Rapids (Kent County) and Muskegon (Muskegon County) in West Michigan to Port Huron (St. Clair County) on the east side of the state. They represent more than 1,000 physicians and 242 specialties.
Michigan Health Connect is the largest provider of health information exchange in Michigan, serving 55 hospitals, 1,265 medical offices and more than 4,000 individual providers statewide. The nationally recognized, community-based nonprofit works to enhance patient care by improving access to timely, secure clinical information while streamlining administrative functions for providers. For more information see www.MichiganHealthConnect.org
Medicity, the industry standard for health information exchange, is the leading innovator and largest provider of HIE technology -- with more than 800 hospitals and 250,000 physicians in its connected ecosystem. For more information, visit www.medicity.com.
