Area partners developing a less expensive way to share medical records
Gainesville Sun and Ocala Star Banner
By Christopher Curry
A community nonprofit group is trying to gain traction for an electronic patient information and records sharing system for small medical offices and providers.
The service, MyHealthStory, was a point of focus during Thursday morning’s summit at Santa Fe College for health care staff and administrators.
The system evolved out of a string of community meetings years ago and a partnership that includes WellFlorida Council, Santa Fe College and the Heart of Florida Health Center in Marion County. Together, they formed CommunityHealth IT Inc., the nonprofit behind MyHealthStory.
Free to patients, the service is intended to give clinics and medical offices, particularly those in rural areas, a lower-cost alternative for sharing patient information. With a patient’s consent, that information may include a history of recent medical tests, a list of prescriptions, a summary of medical conditions, allergies to medications and any advanced directives.
“When I log in, I will actually see this composite view of the patient,” said Dr. David Willis, the chief medical information officer of CommunityHealth IT and the chief medical officer of Heart of Florida Health Center.
Patients and health care providers will also be able to communicate through the service and have online appointments.
For health care providers, the system is intended to offer access to the statewide Florida Health Information Exchange at a fraction of the cost of paying for that service directly.
Kendra Siler-Marsiglio, the president of CommunityHealth IT and the director of the Rural Health Partnership, said the nonprofit, which won federal funding a few years back, will pay to access the statewide network. Health care providers then will access that network through MyHealthyStory.
Siler-Marsiglio said the service could “turn the health information exchange on its head.”
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