Netsmart, in collaboration with Epic Systems and MedAllies, has launched a closed-loop data exchange referral system with LifeWorks NorthWest, a behavioral health provider, through the Portland, Oregon-based OCHIN health information exchange. The partnership facilitates the sharing of behavioral health and primary care information within a Federally Qualified Health Center model. 

The new capability will help LifeWorks NW provide better care, Katy Beveridge, vice president of operations, said in a statement this week.

WHY IT MATTERS

Called Launch 360X, the pilot system is an interoperability milestone better connecting primary care and community-based behavioral healthcare providers by streamlining referral management and ensuring transparency across care settings, the company said Tuesday.

"We have continued to advocate for and advance interoperability strategies to enable providers to deliver coordinated, value-based care,” AJ Peterson, senior vice president and general manager of CareGuidance at Netsmart, said in the statement.

The new standards aim to electronically close the loop on referrals, helping to reduce provider burden, transcription errors and overall care costs, according to Netsmart, which is a founding member of the Carequality interoperability framework. 

With it, primary care providers can efficiently track patients as they transition to community-based care, regardless of their electronic health records.

"By successfully deploying the 360X interoperability standards, we will be able to take this model and make it widely available for providers, further connecting the healthcare ecosystem as a whole," Peterson noted. 

"This innovation boosts the quality, efficiency and safety of care, thereby enhancing satisfaction for all involved," Dr. Holly Miller, chief medical officer at MedAllies, said in a statement. 

“LifeWorks NW has a long-standing commitment to leveraging interoperability and data sharing to drive integrated care models and foster strong partnerships with primary care and hospital partners,” Beveridge added. 

LifeWorks NW adopted the Carequality framework through its partnership with Netsmart in 2018.

THE LARGER TREND

Consumer-engagement technologies support population health management by enhancing data exchange across community care settings and creating a more connected and efficient healthcare ecosystem driven to improve patient outcomes. 

However, several variables have made behavioral health data access and sharing a challenge to care coordination efforts. 

Alisa Chestler, chair of the data protection, privacy and cybersecurity team at Baker Donelson, told Healthcare IT News last year that policy and funding incentives are starting to chip away at digital barriers. She said there is a "continued desire to really push alignment" on behavioral health interoperability. 

ON THE RECORD

"Our commitment to interoperability not only enhances care coordination but also drives the industry toward more efficient and effective patient outcomes, ensuring that critical health information is accessible whenever and wherever it is needed," Netsmart's Peterson said in a statement. 

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.