9Health Fair Connecting to CORHIO to Deliver Lab Test Results to Community Health Care Providers

Providers participating in the CORHIO HIE will be able to access 9Health Fair results electronically, speeding up care coordination and improving communication with patients

This year, 9Health Fair has partnered with CORHIO to help health care providers get electronic access to their patients’ test results. Providers who are participating in the CORHIO health information exchange (HIE) and set up to receive data can access lab results through CORHIO’s secure, Web-based software tool, PatientCare 360®.

More than 75,000 people are expected to attend this spring’s health fairs, which are offered at 140 different locations around the state. 9Health Fair participants are attracted to the low-cost and free tests available, such as Blood Chemistry, Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, and Vitamin D screenings. New this year, 9Health Fair will offer Gluten Sensitivity and Hepatitis C screenings at select locations. Individuals can visit the 9Health Fair website to search for fair locations based on screenings offered or location.

“9Health Fair is committed to providing excellent tools and systems to help our participants own their health,” James H. Goddard, President of 9Health Fair said. “We have always encouraged people to take their results to their health care professional. Now this partnership with CORHIO will make it even easier for people to share their results with their provider.”

Lab Results Available in the Community Health Record

Lab work will be processed and the data will be made available through the CORHIO HIE. 9Health Fair does not ask patients to provide the name of their physician(s) at registration, so the lab results will not automatically route to provider’s electronic health record (if they have that type of connection to CORHIO). Instead, lab results will be accessible through the Community Health Record feature inside the PatientCare 360 software tool. Patients will have to notify their physicians that they attended the 9Health Fair and to look for the results in the CORHIO HIE.

During the pilot phase of the connection, during this spring’s fairs only, there will be a potential delay of several months for the results to be available in the HIE. For future 9Health Fairs, lab information will be available almost instantly after the results are processed.

Improving Provider and Patient Communication

When 9Health Fair results are available in the HIE, providers will be brought into the loop faster and can better understand and more quickly react to their patients’ results. Before this connection to CORHIO, 9Health Fair participants had to bring their reports to their medical professional.

At this time, health fair participants who register on-site will receive test results via mail within four weeks, or if they register online results are delivered electronically via a special online portal within one week. For abnormal results indicating a critical health issue, patients receive a phone call from a volunteer doctor or nurse within 72 hours of the fair.

“Having participant lab results on the CORHIO HIE will be a great step forward for both my office and our patients,” says Dr. Michael Archer of Complete Family Medicine. “It means we’ll be able to quickly access their information, get them into the office sooner if something has been detected or put their mind at ease if everything looks great. This is a win-win situation for everyone.”