Rio Grande Valley Health Information Exchange (RGV HIE) is launching an initiative to support health data sharing among Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers and hospitals in Texas.
About RGV HIE
The RGV HIE is a non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating the secure exchange of patient health information to improve communication and patient care in South Texas. It brings a regional-level infrastructure solution that connects information between participating health care organizations and providers by integrating disparate systems and enabling the exchange and use of critical patient information for making care related decisions at the point of care. Made possible through a grant from the Legacy Foundation, this new project will allow participating hospitals to exchange information with EMS providers at the point of care.
Benefits of EMS to Hospital Data Sharing
EMS providers often lack the technology needed to retrieve and access patient health data from local hospitals. “Most of the data systems used by EMS, hospitals and other providers don’t talk to each other,” explained Andrew Lombardo, Executive Director for RGVHIE. “At the HIE, we can integrate data from all of these systems and share it across care settings in real-time.” He pointed out that this is especially important in an emergency when minutes, even seconds, can mean the difference between life and death.
How it Will Work
Once the connections are in place, EMS personnel will be able to send important patient information, like prenotification alerts through the HIE in real time, giving hospitals a clear view of the patient’s current condition and saving valuable time when they arrive for emergency care. In exchange, EMS personnel will see critical patient data to better inform emergency treatment delivered at the scene and en route to the hospital.
RGV HIE turned to J2 to help build out the foundation needed to integrate and share information between the HIE and EMS and hospital providers. We are excited to see this important initiative get off the ground and proud to be a part of improving emergency care for patients across the Rio Grande Valley region.
