CurrentCare HIE becomes first to provide a comprehensive patient health profile

CurrentCare, Rhode Island’s statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE), has become the first in the nation to receive continuous updates in real-time with behavioral health patient information and automatically integrate with medical information, providing a comprehensive patient health profile. This first was achieved when behavioral health data began flowing into CurrentCare from The Providence Center’s EssentiaEHR system.

CurrentCare recently began to integrate continuous, live updates of behavioral health consumer data, which is consolidated in Continuity of Care Documents (CCD). Data, which includes substance abuse information covered under 42 CFR Part II, is deposited into the statewide repository of enrolled individuals’ health data from participating hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and medical practices. This milestone was achieved through the collaboration of teams at The Providence Center (TPC) and Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI), which operates CurrentCare.

“RIQI has always been steadfast in the belief that treating the whole individual is imperative to improving health outcomes,” said Laura Adams, RIQI President & CEO. “With this exchange, CurrentCare provides not only current health information, but integrates behavIoral health and substance abuse data with medical data. We are proud to connect providers with information that helps them treat the whole patient and improves quality and safety of care.”

Mike Lardiere, VP for Health Information Technology and Strategic Development at the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (National Council) added, “This is a triumph and watershed event in the momentum toward integrated healthcare in the United States. SAMHSA not only saw the promising potential in RIQI’s mission and past  accomplishments in its grant award, but the faith of everyone, including National Council colleagues, was uplifted by RIQI’s affirmative spirit towards taking on the challenges of integrating behavioral health data into a statewide HIE.”

The National Council presented the Rhode Island Quality Institute with the 2013 Impact Award for Excellence in Health Information Technology at the annual conference last week.