CORHIO Connects New Hospital Data Sender

Surrounded by mountain passes, this remote critical access hospital is a vital hub for their community and regularly refers patients to neighboring cities, including Pueblo, Alamosa, Durango, Colorado Springs and even up to Denver.

Rio Grande Hospital in the San Luis Valley is remote and geographically isolated, but is right on point with utilizing technology to improve patient care. The hospital recently developed their own interface between the hospital electronic health record (EHR) system and the separate EHR of their four clinics. In addition, they joined the CORHIO Health Information Exchange network, in a two-prong project. Firstly, to make their hospital data available to other providers in the community, and secondly, to give their clinics access to CORHIO data delivered right to their EHR.

It’s been a very busy year for the Rio Grande Hospital network, according to CEO Arlene Harms. “We are so excited these projects are live and our providers are thrilled to have access to all of this data, especially for patients they transferred out,” she says. “We are also so glad to be sharing our lab and demographic data (admissions) to area providers. This allows others like nursing homes and other clinics to get our data and not have to repeat tests.”

Four Clinics Also Accessing CORHIO Data

With funding from the Colorado Care Connections Program through Colorado’s Department of Health Care, Policy and Financing, the four clinics in the Rio Grande health network were able to join the CORHIO network and receive patient results directly into their Aprima EHR. The four clinics of Rio Grande Hospital include Creede Family Practice, a two-provider primary care clinic in the town of Creede. Del Norte Clinic, with seven providers, is the clinic in the main hospital. Monte Vista Rural Clinic and Pharmacy has three providers and is located in the small town of Monte Vista. Lastly, South Fork Clinic is a solo-provider family clinic in a recreational/tourist area surrounded by several mountains. Many patients seen at these clinics are visitors up for the weekend, so they don’t have records in the Rio Grande system. Accessing patient data through the CORHIO network will help clinic providers make more informed clinical decisions.

Hospital Data Immediately Available in PatientCare 360

Laboratory results and admission, transfer and discharge (ADT) data from Rio Grande Hospital is immediately available to CORHIO participants via the secure web-based portal PatientCare 360. If your organization wishes to access Rio Grande Hospital data directly into your EHR, please let your CORHIO representative know.

“This is a really important development for the San Luis Valley, particularly that both the hospital and their clinics are all now on the CORHIO network,” says Scott Wallace, Outreach and Development Manager at CORHIO. “I can’t wait to see how this improves care coordination and transitions in the area and outside the valley, and I am confident it will help patients directly.”