DETROIT, Jan. 25, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Covisint, a Compuware (Nasdaq:CPWR) company, today announced that the Greater Tulsa Health Access Network (Greater THAN) has selected Covisint to build Greater THAN's health information exchange (HIE). The Covisint-powered HIE will improve care delivery by increasing access to information at the point of care and by providing the secure infrastructure enabling doctors, hospitals and patients to communicate and share health information.
According to national sources such as The Commonwealth Fund, Oklahoma's healthcare system performance is worse than nearly all other states. Local research indicates that Oklahoma has among the fewest number of physicians per capita and that Oklahoma is the only state to have experienced a worsening age-adjusted death rate for the past 15 years. Fragmentation of the healthcare delivery system and resulting communications breakdowns are often cited as reasons for the poor access to care.
Greater THAN, formed by more than 50 healthcare delivery stakeholders, will use Covisint ExchangeLink™ to improve health outcomes and information access while also increasing technology adoption and reducing waste through a community-wide HIE. Examples of healthcare organizations leveraging the Covisint HIE through Greater THAN include Saint Francis Health System, St. John Health System, Hillcrest Health System, the OU School of Community Medicine and the OSU Center for Health Sciences.
"We chose Covisint for the company's proven ability to offer Greater THAN physicians and patients the most flexible and scalable technology available for health information exchange," said David Kendrick, M.D., President and CEO of Greater THAN. "Covisint is helping us achieve our strategic objectives by providing needed information at the point of care, whether that is at a hospital, a home care setting, in an ambulance or at a physician's office."
Kendrick added: "Covisint also has demonstrated a unique ability to integrate seamlessly into clinician workflows, a key element to driving successful adoption of the community HIE. The effectiveness of an unused technology is zero ‑ so we are particularly focused on Covisint's capabilities to provide tools to simplify the use of the HIE by clinicians in our community. When coupled with the other elements of our Beacon Community technologies, the Covisint platform will enable us to significantly improve care coordination, eliminate duplication of tests and other unnecessary events and improve the quality of individual and public health through a focus on the management of diabetes, improved cancer screening and immunization rates."
Recently, Greater THAN received one of only 17 Beacon Grants awarded nationwide by the Office of the National Coordinator. The Beacon program is funded by the HITECH portion of the 2009 Federal stimulus legislation, which provides funds to modernize and streamline healthcare delivery. The Beacon funds are being spent to help Greater THAN healthcare delivery organizations achieve the government's first phase "meaningful use" designation, which promotes the use of electronic records and enables physicians to qualify for federal funding, by managing 32 clinical workflows.
"Covisint turns data into an asset in a way that meaningfully benefits healthcare stakeholders," said Brett Furst, Covisint Vice President of Healthcare. "What's particularly exciting about this long-term Greater THAN partnership is that we are going to measure improvement in outcomes and quality of care every step of the way."
Greater THAN
The Greater Tulsa Health Access Network is a non-profit consortium of more than 50 organizations in northeastern Oklahoma, including physicians, patients, hospitals, medical schools, tribal health systems, insurance companies, pharmacies, laboratories, community services, city government and safety net clinics. These organizations have a shared goal of improving the health and quality of life for all Tulsans (and Oklahomans in the Tulsa region) through the establishment of a Health Information Exchange in the Greater Tulsa area.
Covisint, a Compuware Company
Covisint, a Compuware company, enables information ecosystems that quickly revolutionize organizations by providing secure communication and collaboration between people and systems in remarkably simple ways. Covisint is a recognized cloud computing pioneer driving the on-demand revolution that helps organizations connect, communicate and collaborate with their partners – enabling anywhere, anytime information. The Covisint ExchangeLink™ platform provides industry-specific services for identity management, collaborative portals and data exchange, as well as a third-party application marketplace. Learn more at www.covisint.com.
The Covisint Logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7150
Compuware Corporation
Compuware Corporation, the technology performance company, provides software, experts and best practices to ensure technology works well and delivers value. Compuware solutions make the world's most important technologies perform at their best for leading organizations worldwide, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the top 20 most visited U.S. web sites. Learn more at: http://www.compuware.com.
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/compuware.
The Compuware logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5950
