The Illinois Rural Community Care Organization will implement HealtheIntent, the big data and insights platform for population health management from Cerner.

The group will deploy the technology across its accountable care organization to coordinate care for Medicare patients across the state.

"In order to move the needle forward in how we provide care for the Medicare patients of Illinois, we need to work with a health IT company that can take all our clinical and financial data and make it valuable," said Pat Schou, executive director, Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network, in a statement.

[Also: Health Network of Missouri to deploy Cerner population health management platform]

Schou added that the ACO expects the technology will help doctors and nurses at member hospitals across the state feel confident in their decision making.

Comprehensive and comparative reports with information on the care individual patients receive, and the overall health of our patients, make it easier for the ACO to develop strategies needed to improve the delivery and cost of care, she said.

Cerner HealtheIntent analyzes medical data across platforms and is expected to help IRCCO clinicians identify ways to engage people beyond the hospital setting, the better to manage health outcomes.

"IRCCO is rising to the significant challenge of providing high-quality healthcare and services, while reducing overall costs for individuals and rural communities across the state," said Cerner President Zane Burke in a news release. 

Cerner technology will be deployed across IRCCO's ACO, which includes 24 member hospitals and four independent provider practices that serve 20,000 Medicare patients across Illinois.

Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com