Taconic Health Information Network and Community

The Taconic Independent Practice Association (IPA), which consists of 2,300 independent practice members, is the lead organisation of the THINC initiative. Other stakeholders include: Benedictine Hospital, Kingston Hospital, LabCorp, St. Francis Hospital, and Vassar Brothers Medical Center. According to the project organisers, the THINC project has broken the organisation-centric mentality of competing groups within the healthcare community, and competing hospitals, reference laboratories and health insurers are coming together to exchange electronic information. The project was developed based on the belief that electronic records, particularly ones that can be shared online by different doctors and hospitals, can improve the quality and safety of patient care by reducing errors that kill tens of thousands of patients each year.

THINC allows physicians to electronically manage health care data via a clinical messaging system - the first step to adopting an electronic medical record (EMR). Physicians participating in the Taconic Health Information Network and Community pay a monthly subscription fee for access to a secure website to view imaging results from four local hospitals and two lab companies. Using a secure password, physicians log in to a main portal from either laptop computers or personal digital assistants to retrieve lab reports, x-rays, and other clinical data. Participating providers and physicians require at least one computer terminal with high-speed access to the internet, and a router computer for security protection and antivirus software. Some doctors have flat screens in each examining room. Some have wireless tablets or laptops they take from room to room and many have separate terminals for themselves and their nurses and administrative staffs.

The Network provides training for participating physicians and their staff and maintains a paid staff of technical support employees. In addition, the group is negotiating software and hardware discounts, and participating physicians can use payments from insurers and employers to help offset the monthly subscription fee. THINC also aims to demonstrate a financial model that supports sustainability of the initiative.

The THINC initiative aims to provide important lessons regarding strategies for engaging health plans and employers in alignment of incentives around the use of information technology and health information exchange. It will also offer insights and new knowledge regarding innovative methods to support effective implementation of these tools particularly in small physician practices through the experiences of its MedAllies partner.

Health, Technology