Chicago health information technology company EMRapproved recently announced a partnership with a new collaboration called HealthITxChange, an online community where healthcare practitioners and health IT professionals can share best practices and lessons learned – or "pearls" – on EHR adoption.

HealthITxChange partner organizations include the AHIMA Foundation, the American Medical Informatics Association, the American Nurses Association and Health Level Seven International.

Carol J. Bickford, RN, a senior policy fellow for the American Nurses Association and Managing Partner of Informatics Consulting and Continuing Education was part of the original group that developed HealthITxChange.

“I’m the one who reminds them it’s not just for physicians, but also for nurses and other clinicians,” she says.

Bickford says HealthITxChange partnered with EMRApproved, "to make the website more enticing, and to gain funding for the site. There’s a partnership in place," she says. "This is deemed to be a synergistic partnership."

Since the launch of the site at HIMSS13 in New Orleans, the site has shown steady increase in use. "It can be used not only for people who are just stepping their toes into the water, but also for more experienced people to share the best way to make this happen."

[See also: Get set: New HIPAA has teeth.]

Bickford also says the site is a good resource for health IT training programs of any kind and for the regional extension centers.

According to Kevin Donnelly, CEO of EMRapproved, since the site launched a month ago, the top six areas with the most traffic for sharing or reading “pearls” are:

• ICD-10 (education and impact on practice, not the technical implementation);
• Meaningful use;
• HIPAA omnibus, both on the provider as well as the business associate side;
• EHR certification (new as well as difference between original process and 2014 modular approach);
• Online education (all stakeholders, to include junior colleges though graduate and professional programs); and
• Interoperability/HIE.

Donnelly says the site is free, peer-reviewed and curated.

"EMRapproved is committed to providing comprehensive resources for the adoption of health information technology and electronic health records (EMR/EHR) for industry professionals," Donnelly says. "HealthITxChange is unique in that they create an interactive and engaged community where members share knowledge and exchange ideas. Our mutual focus and priorities make this a truly strategic partnership."

Completing the collaboration, EMRapproved has linked its 4Med Marketplace to the new HealthITxChange site. The 4Med Marketplace will provide a gateway for HealthITxChange members to access education and certification courses; EMR-related products; and consulting services (through the EMRapproved 4Med Pro Network).