Denver Health and the Mental Health Center of Denver announced a collaboration via the Carequality interoperability framework to integrate behavioral and physical health data of patients. 

“The application of Carequality to our current NetSmart electronic health record solution has helped to open additional doors that create the best opportunity for true integration of mental and physical healthcare,” Wes Williams, CIO at Mental Health Center of Denver, said in a statement.

Williams described Carequality as promoting a common interoperability framework between participating health IT data providers that allows a seamless exchange of patient health information between data networks and care settings.

Mental Health Center of Denver uses an EHR from Netsmart, which is a founding member of Carequality. The center and Denver Health also both have Epic Systems EHRs, have a long history of working together to connect their populations. 

Today the Carequality framework brings a higher level of connectivity and access to patient records that wasn’t available before, Williams noted, adding that giving providers full visibility into a patient's health record makes for more comprehensive care, eliminates duplicate or unnecessary testing or procedures, improves outcomes and reduces costs.

Both organizations are part of Colorado’s Accountable Care Collaborative, a public health benefits program designed to provide quality care to residents, he added. As members, both can provide a better quality of care and also improve Medicaid reimbursements through the interoperability framework.

Williams and Carequality President Dave Cassel will be discussing the Carequality framework at the Sequoia Project’s booth at HIMSS18 in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. March 7.

The Sequoia Project will be in Booth 3374.  

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