by Stephanie Esters | Kalamazoo Gazette

Tuesday January 06, 2009, 8:00 AM

 KALAMAZOO -- Southwestern Michigan is well on its way to having a regional online database through which patient health information could be shared confidentially among care providers.

The system is called the Southwest Michigan Health Information Exchange and would be used by health-care providers in Berrien, Branch, Cass, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties.

The Michigan Department of Community Health gave a $580,000 grant to ChangeScape, a Birmingham health-care management advisory firm, to create the regional Health Information Exchange, or HIE.

Its implementation is dependent on support from area health-care providers.

The new system would allow providers to find out about a patient's medical history, any medications he or she is taking, any complications from the medication and any medical procedures the patient has undergone, said Mindy Richards, chief executive officer of ChangeScape.

The system also would allow patients to spend less time filling out health-information forms when they go to a provider, Richards said.

Patients, however, could opt not to have their health information shared, she said.
The regional database is part of a national effort to improve how health care is delivered, according to the Web site of the Southwest Michigan Health Information Exchange.

Work on the regional system started in September, according to Richards.

ChangeScape is now coordinating discussions of the system among the Michigan Department of Community Health, the Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies and the region's five major health-care providers: Borgess Health, Bronson Healthcare Group, Battle Creek Health System, St. Joseph's Lakeland Health Care and Marshall's Oaklawn Hospital.

Richards said ChangeScape is seeking other health-care participants, too, who could provide expertise in designing the information exchange.

If the stakeholders agree to go ahead with the plan, ChangeScape could apply for another grant from the state to implement it.

A decade ago, there was only a sprinkling of these exchanges, but now more and more are appearing, said Brett Mello, director of information technology for Bronson Healthcare Group, the parent organization of Bronson Methodist Hospital.

Mello said he sees benefits not just for doctors and patients but for public health organizations that monitor health trends. "I think it's a larger picture that we're just starting to realize the value of," he said.

George Dix, chief information officer for Borgess Healthcare (which includes Borgess Medical Center), said he, too, supports the regional HIE. "It's really the ability to provide common health information for different health facilities," Dix said. "I think it's good news. It's good for the patient, it's good for the physician, it's good for the provider."

Contact Stephanie Esters at se@kalamazoogazette.com or 388-8554.