The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and dbMotion, a provider of health care information integration software that facilitates interoperability and health information exchange, recently announced an $84 million initiative to create one of the largest models of interoperability in health care.
Through this alliance, the two organizations hope to achieve a workable model of interoperability among clinical IT systems. UPMC sought a partner that would enable it to achieve real-time flow of patient care data to anyone in its integrated delivery network — without scrapping more than 600 system interfaces and a dozen-plus systems its physicians and caregivers were accustomed to using. UPMC investigated several options, including the use of a single-vendor solution to aggregate, harmonize and make accessible all patient data that was housed in individual IT systems.
UPMC ultimately chose dbMotion because its data repository model will allow universal, real-time access to patient information across the continuum of care without disrupting physician workflows. In time, UPMC believes this model will aid the development of regional health information organizations, and statewide and national health information exchanges.
UPMC also sought a solution that would enable it to develop decision support tools that comply with emerging pay-for-performance standards and assist in tasks such as identifying patients for clinical trials and research. dbMotion's technology offers the flexibility to link these support tools, whether homegrown or purchased from a vendor, to the patient data it has aggregated and harmonized from existing disparate clinical systems.
Mr. Drawbaugh is CIO of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Mr. van der Grinten serves as general manager for the United States and Canada for dbMotion Inc.
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