Dayton Children's is first children’s hospital in Ohio to join the health information exchange

The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton is the first stand-alone children’s hospital in Ohio to join CliniSync – Ohio’s statewide health information exchange.

This significant step into the future of health care means that pediatricians, physicians and others involved in the care of the region’s children will be able to electronically exchange medical information about their patients with one another.

Dan Paoletti, chief executive officer of the Ohio Health Information Partnership that oversees CliniSync says, “Children’s Medical Center of Dayton is leading the way in the pediatric market to help us achieve the goal of interoperability and connectivity on behalf of the children in the state.”

Dr. Gregg Alexander, a pediatrician and board member of the Ohio Health Information Partnership, adds, “By being the first children’s hospital in Ohio to connect across the entire state via CliniSync, Dayton Children’s should be commended for showing true vision and a strong commitment to advancing child healthcare quality.”

Dayton Children’s Chief Information Office Beth Fredette says the hospital is proud to be the first pediatric medical center to embrace this innovative health information technology.

“Connectivity and access to information are key strategic priorities for us,” Fredette says. “For the safety and care of all our children, we need to make sure every provider has complete and accurate information available to them at any point in the care process.  CliniSync will be key to making all of that happen.”

Dayton Children’s serves children in a 20-county region that includes Ohio and eastern Indiana. This nonprofit, 155-bed regional pediatric referral center is the only facility in the area devoted to the health, safety and information needs of children and their families.  It employs 350 physicians, including primary care pediatricians as well as subspecialists in more than 35 areas of pediatric medicine. In total, 1300 employees and volunteers work toward quality care for children and their families.

The medical center joins 56 other hospitals in Ohio that have committed to be part of the CliniSync community, including Premier Health Partners and Kettering Health Network in Dayton.

The electronic exchange of a patient’s lab results or tests reduces faxing, phone calls and other lags in care that occur because it takes so much time to communicate that information.  In addition, patients will not have to go through duplicate tests and procedures already conducted by another physician, saving time and money. 

And finally, patients with several doctors will now receive coordinated care because the health information network ultimately will allow physicians, hospitals, urgent care centers, clinics, labs and other healthcare entities to share information about a patient. This will eventually include patients who are in long-term care facilities.

The partnership also has signed up 6,504 Ohio physicians and healthcare professionals for the switch from paper records to electronic health records or to upgrade their existing systems. A free software package offered through CliniSync also allows physicians and clinicians to electronically send encrypted email messages, coordinate referrals with one another, and get hospital and lab results directly to their practices.

To learn more about CliniSync, go to www.CliniSync.org

About the Ohio Health Information Partnership

The Ohio Health Information Partnership is a nonprofit, state-designated entity responsible for establishing regional extension centers to assist physicians and hospitals with information technology and for creating the infrastructure for a health information exchange in the state.

Ohiohas received $44,804,517 in federal funding through two federal grants that rigidly prescribe who can receive funding and how it is to be used.  The HIE grant of $14,872,199 is for The Partnership to create a technological infrastructure (CliniSync) that will allow hospitals, physicians, clinicians, laboratories and others involved in a patient’s care to communicate electronically and share patient data.

The second grant includes $29,374,318 for regional extension centers (RECs) and $558,000 for 31 critical access and rural hospitals (CAHs). These seven regional extension centers assist primary care physicians and CAHs in the adoption of electronic health records and the achievement of “meaningful use” federal requirements that, in turn, allow physicians to receive Medicare or Medicaid incentive funds for using electronic health records.

The state of Ohio contributed $8 million when The Partnership first formed to help meet the match requirements of the federal grants. The Partnership includes the Ohio State Medical Association, Ohio Osteopathic Association, Ohio Hospital Association, BioOhio and the State of Ohio. The Partnership is funded through the Office of the National Coordinator, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, grant numbers 90RC0012 and 90HT0024. More information can be found at  the Ohio Health Information Partnership website at www.clinisync.org.

For more information, contact:

Dottie Howe

Director of Communications

Ohio Health Information Partnership

614-664-2605

dhowe@ohiponline.org

For more information, contact: 
Grace Jones
Phone: 937-641-3666 
marketing@childrensdayton.org