Better Care at Reduced Costs? A Real-Life Example!

The results of a recent peer-reviewed study conducted by Humana Inc. and Wisconsin Health Information Exchange (WHIE), a long-time Amalga customer, are both exciting and important.

They’re exciting because the results begin to prove what many people involved with health information exchanges have long theorized – that providing a more complete view of a patient’s medical history at the point of care helps doctors make more informed decisions that can improve the quality of care while reducing waste. Humana and WHIE achieved an average cost savings of $29 per emergency department (ED) visit when doctors queried the WHIE for information about the patient’s medical history upon registration. Redundant testing represents a huge strain on the healthcare system, and as the study demonstrates, can be reduced when ED clinicians have the right information at their fingertips. This degree of savings, if extrapolated across all of the emergency encounters in the country (120 million per year), could potentially yield $3.5 billion in savings annually. You can learn more about how these savings were achieved by reading a blog from Ed Barthell, MD, director, Microsoft Health Solutions Group.

To get the rest of this story, read today’s post on the Neupert on Health Blog.

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