Orion Health, the developer of health information exchange technology, and Denver-based Health Language, Inc., which specializes in medical terminology management, have joined together with the aim of improving patient safety, physician communication, clinical decision support and operational efficiency through Orion Health's HIE solution.

Embedding HLI's Language Engine (LE) in the Orion Health HIE enables seamless data exchange by mapping data from disparate systems to standardized terminologies. This ensures that all the various terms and synonyms that physicians and other clinicians use to describe the same condition are linked, which facilitates effective, accurate and efficient communication, documentation and analytics throughout the care delivery cycle.

The two companies previously partnered on the successful implementation of Maine's HealthInfoNet, which is billed as the largest statewide HIE.

[See also: Maine hosts nation's health IT chief as it goes live with HIE.]

"Based on our extremely positive experience in Maine, we are looking forward to a much broader, ongoing partnership with Orion Health," said Health Language CEO George Schwend. "Because both companies have extensive, wide-ranging deployments worldwide, we can now leverage our combined knowledge, insights and expertise to meet the diverse and evolving needs for healthcare data exchange.

Schwend added that he is "excited that we can help transform healthcare delivery by improving clinical outcomes, streamlining business processes, fostering innovation, and optimizing financial performance to develop a more sustainable business model."

[See also: Orion Health to lead expansion of Maine's HIE.]

Health Language's LE provides access to current versions of more than 100 clinical and administrative code sets, including SNOMED, the most comprehensive clinical terminology in existence today. It also provides tools to map proprietary local content into standardized medical terminologies. This allows physicians and nurses to continue using the terms and codes they prefer, while aligning the captured data to a reference standard and integrating updates to those standards with local modifications.


"Health Language has distinguished itself as a global leader that supports HIEs," said Orion Health president of North America Paul Viskovich. "Our HIE solution will gain a clear market advantage by taking advantage of the Language Engine's ability to integrate and manage the latest medical terminologies. It will also strengthen the interoperable use of accurate medical data, support HIPAA compliance, and improve the completeness and accuracy of information."

The Language Engine automates the incorporation of standard medical terminology into Orion Health's HIE. Additionally, the LE integrates local, proprietary, and legacy data with accepted code sets, providing a single environment for managing all of an organization's medical vocabularies. The LE also provides security, data integrity, and version control.