One of Boulder’s Largest Physician Groups Joining the CORHIO HIE

More than 65 physicians at the Boulder Medical Center, a multispecialty group of providers that also operates an urgent care department, are now in the process of connecting with CORHIO.

All three office locations of Boulder Medical Center are in the process of connecting with the CORHIO health information exchange (HIE), including more than 65 physicians and several other providers. Boulder Medical Center is a large physician-owned organization that offers 20 specialty departments, with a focus on primary care, allergy, cardiology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics, podiatry, surgery, and urology. They will integrate clinical patient data from the HIE into their NextGen electronic health record (EHR) system. In addition, they will utilize CORHIO’s secure Web portal in their urgent care department to search for information on patients with no records from their facilities.

Boulder Medical Center also looks forward to receiving lab results from hospitals around the state, including Boulder Community Hospital, Longmont United Hospital, Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and University of Colorado Hospital—without having to wait for faxes or other paper-based methods.

David Glow, EMR Project Manager, has been hoping to get connected to the CORHIO HIE for a long time. “I have been talking with CORHIO since the early days and the writing was on the wall back then. Meaningful Use Stage 2 was coming and was certainly a motivator for us joining CORHIO,” he says. “We’re excited to be working with CORHIO because we know how important mobility of patient data is.”

“It’s nice to see our local community efforts for health information exchange growing. Boulder Community Hospital and Boulder Medical Center have always been strong collaborative partners and many of their patients have services at BCH,” says Linda S. Minghella, vice president and CIO, Boulder Community Hospital. “Having them join CORHIO will allow us to continue our focus on collaboration and jointly work to improve patient care through electronically sharing health information.”

Community and Patients to Benefit

 “I think when a patient shows up at our urgent care and they don’t have a history with us, it’s best for their care if their health history is in a central place,” says Glow. “Patients are savvy in this area and as time goes on, more will come to expect and demand it. I think they’ll consider their care options partially based on who has the best technology. It’s the future of health care.”

With more than 200,000 annual patient visits, Boulder Medical Center is a mainstay in the Boulder health care community. Two locations are in Boulder and a third is in Louisville on the Avista Adventist Hospital campus. The providers see many students, Boulder and Louisville residents, travelers and others from around the state.