Health Fidelity, provider of a breakthrough natural language processing (NLP) platform for healthcare, on February 20, 2012 announced the launch of its Solution Partner Program, designed to help qualified healthcare organizations automate, leverage, and extract the value of unstructured clinical data.

A wide array of HIT applications are fueled by clinical data, but are constrained by the limited codified content available.   Unstructured clinical data is codified through Health Fidelity’s NLP platform, massively increasing usable data.  Together, Health Fidelity and its Solution Partners can tap the hidden value of narrative content to leapfrog the current generation of HIT applications in ease of development and power to address current and future needs.

“Health organizations have vast amounts of unstructured data that are currently unusable. We are making it easier for HIT vendors to harness that information,” said Dan Riskin, M.D., CEO of Health Fidelity.  “The majority of physicians’ narrative notes, nurses’ comments and other unstructured content has yet to be utilized for analytics, presenting an enormous opportunity to improve the efficiency and quality of our healthcare system.

By offering this Partner Program to the HIT community, we can accelerate the integration and measurable benefits of NLP across the full spectrum of solutions, applications and services.” As much as 80 percent of medical information stored by healthcare organizations is unstructured and therefore unusable for extraction, automation, and analytics.

Healthcare organizations seeking ways to comply with meaningful use, ICD-10 conversion and other quality improvement requirements can capitalize on the data they already have to perform more accurate analytics, driving their performance improvement and cost reduction initiatives.  Health Fidelity provides organizations with a cloud-based platform that is adaptable and easy to integrate, facilitating the extraction and application of vast amounts of clinical information.

The Health Fidelity NLP platform incorporates MedLEE, the most accurate, reliable, and extensively validated clinical NLP engine.  In January 2012, Health Fidelity announced an exclusive license in healthcare to commercialize Columbia University’s MedLEE technology, leaving the company poised to be a NLP market leader.

Health Fidelity’s Solution Partner Program has three levels of partnership:

• Developer Partner – (By invitation only.)  This level includes the market’s leading HIT companies, committed to developing solutions that extract measurable value and actionable structure from clinical data.  Health Fidelity engages with Development Partners in joint initiatives on multiple fronts, including engineering, marketing, and sales.

• Integration Partner – This level includes companies with significant expertise and market presence in a focused area of HIT that is strategic to Health Fidelity.  Qualifying partners must have a presence in one or more of the following solution markets: Quality Analytics, Decision Support, Predictive Modeling, Care Management, EMR, Medical Management, or Billing.Health Fidelity works with selected partners on both technical and marketing activities to help them capture first mover advantage and new revenue streams.

• Alliance Partner – This level includes companies and organizations committed to accelerating the application of NLP toward improving healthcare quality and efficiencies. Becoming an Alliance Partner is a great way to get started, with full access to technical information, opportunities for joint collaboration, and marketing exposure.

Health Fidelity’s Partner Program delivers structure and resources that enable HIT solution providers to develop and deliver high performance customer solutions that leverage the value of unstructured clinical data. Learn more about qualifying for the Partner Program by contacting Health Fidelity at partnership@healthfidelity.com.

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By the end of 2011, over 10,000 New York State healthcare providers had enrolled into a federally subsidized program that will help them transition from paper to electronic medical records, continuing the effort to improve the quality and coordination of care for all patients across the state. Federal and state data has long shown that health information technologies measurably improve healthcare and reduce its cost.

Called Regional Extension Centers, the program instructs doctors and nurses how to implement EMRs and teaches them how to achieve the federally defined “Meaningful Use” of them, which qualifies them for reimbursements. The program supports mainly primary care providers and small practices, who often struggle with the transition.
New York has two entities that administer REC programs throughout the state. The New York City Health Department, through its NYC REACH program, covers the five boroughs. The New York eHealth Collaborative, a federally designated public private partnership, oversees the rest of the state including Long Island.

Both entities created individualized programs while working closely together on shared goals. By the end of 2011, the REC programs combined had enrolled well over 10,000 providers, with each REC meeting its goal (NYeC goal: 5,107; NYC REACH goal: 4,543).

“Ten thousand is a big number, and we’re proud to have worked closely with our partners at NYC REACH to achieve it.  Of course, enrollment is just the first step, and now we are focused on helping all of these providers reach the Meaningful Use of these technologies.  That’s what will really help providers and their patients,” said Paul Wilder, director of the NYeC REC.

“In New York City, we’ve seen how health IT can help doctors. EMRs let them see which patients are falling through gaps in our health system and help practices set priorities to improve population health,” said Jesse Singer, DO, Assistant Commissioner at the NYC Health Department. “We are excited to help more doctors understand how to use data to improve the lives of their patients.”

“As a physician in a small practice, I can say I greatly appreciate what the NYeC REC has done for us,” noted Eugene Heslin, MD, owner of Bridge Street Family Medicine in Saugerties, NY. Dr. Heslin is also on the NYeC board of directors. “I’m excited to say that all five physicians in our practice have just attested to Meaningful Use.”

“Our practice made the decision to become a member of the REC in 2010.  Although we had successfully integrated EMR in 2006, as a busy OB-GYN practice, we realized that any resource we could tap to expedite achieving Meaningful Use would be a wonderful time management tool and stress reducer,” said Louise West, Practice Administrator at Myrtle Street Obstetrics & Gynecology, PC in Saratoga Springs, NY.

“In March of 2011, our practice was among the first in New York State to achieve Meaningful Use.  I would recommend membership to any practice wishing to achieve Meaningful Use, regardless of their current EMR status.”

“I am proud to be working closely with the extension center,” said Sumir Sahgal, MD, of Essen Medical Associates in the South Bronx. The practice has been working with the NYC Health Department during every step of EMR adoption, and now delivers state-of-the-art care to patients in one of the most underserved areas in the state.

“With more and more organizations adopting EMRs, I am looking forward to even more connectivity and having a full picture of my patients’ health at my fingertips.”

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