The Colorado Dental Association (CDA) and CORHIO, a Colorado health information exchange, are launching a pilot program to help dentists share data with other providers.
Dental care providers in the pilot program will join CORHIO’s HIE and save the implementation fee ($10,000) plus receive two months’ service. The CDA is working with CORHIO to identify suitable candidates for the pilot. Upon completing the pilot, the CDA and CORHIO will partner to help Colorado dentists join the HIE.
By participating in HIE, providers can securely open lines of communication between dentists and other providers and fill in gaps in clinical knowledge. Access to the right health information at the right time improves the quality, efficiency and safety of patient care, according to the CDA.
Some common scenarios where health information exchange could help dental providers better communicate with physicians:
• An oral surgery patient forgets to mention they’re taking blood thinners for a heart condition. With HIE, the information is all there for the oral surgeon in advance of any procedures.
• A primary care provider doesn’t know the dentist recently diagnosed their diabetic patient with gum disease. If both providers were on the CORHIO HIE, this information would be easily shared.
• A dentist suspects a patient of drug-seeking and has flagged their medical record, but the patient’s primary care physician is on a different system so is unaware. HIE operates outside of electronic health record systems so it doesn’t matter that the dentist and primary care physician are on different systems.
“I am excited that this pilot program is available to our members and to share this valuable health information exchange with the Colorado dental community,” says Greg Hill, executive director/CEO of Colorado Dental Association, in a statement. “The benefit of increased transparency with primary care and other providers is important to improving dental care for all Coloradans.”
CORHIO is a health information exchange organization sustained through a fee-based subscription model. Its hosted HIE infrastructure platform and services are provided by a joint partnership between CORHIO and Health Catalyst (formerly Medicity).
Last year, Denver-based CORHIO joined with the Health Current HIE in Arizona in a merger to form a regional nonprofit interoperability organization called Contexture. By coming together, the HIEs say they have the potential to create the largest health data utility in the West. Melissa Kotrys, CEOof Health Current, serves as the CEO of Contexture, and Morgan Honea, CEO of CORHIO, serves as Contexture’s executive vice president.
