The Urology Center of Colorado Customizes Data From HIE to Improve Continuity of Care

The physician-owned specialty practice, The Urology Center of Colorado (TUCC), receives pathology test results, radiology reports, and transcription notes from CORHIO to help with patient care coordination. With results pushed into their GE Centricity electronic health record system, TUCC is now able to better able to prepare for new patients and existing patients who’ve had a recent hospital encounter.

Anne Archer, IT Project Manager at The Urology Center of Colorado, appreciates having the data coming into their system versus having to seek it out. “That has absolutely helped us and saved time not having to call for the information,” she said. “It’s really helped with continuity of care – when transitioning the patient from the hospital and already having the provider have a copy of what they basically dictated at the hospital – it’s just been great.”

The data feed from CORHIO replaced a point-to-point interface TUCC had with SCL Health (formerly Exempla), so their physicians were already accustomed to receiving this type of data. But they were skeptical of getting a “fire hose” of data to wade through on each patient. “Providers were worried about having more information than we needed. They didn’t want all the labs from the hospital,” said Archer. “But we were able to customize how the data comes in and pare it down.”

For brand-new patients to TUCC, the CORHIO data is helping them prepare for the patient’s first appointment. “Many of our patients are seen in the hospital before they come to us – maybe they’ve had a kidney stone or some type of emergency,” said Archer. “Now with CORHIO, we actually get the information before we even have the patient’s chart established in our system, it’s so fast. This is a great position to be in – when you have the whole hospital encounter, discharge summary, notes, consult note, operative report– before we even see the patient here. Some of the physicians will right then start updating the patient’s problem list and chart with this data from the hospital.”

For established patients at their practice, TUCC has found CORHIO a great source of information for their follow-up care. “Data can come in after the patient has been seen at TUCC, so they already have a chart with us,” said Archer. “Upon discharge from the hospital, we get the data – the operative report, the pathology report – which helps with care coordination.”