SCOTTSDALE, AZ – A partnership between Detroit-based Covisint, a subsidiary of the Compuware Corporation, and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Carefx is set to help doctors capture and share data across multiple information systems – a key aspect of demonstrating meaningful use.

The partnership brings together Covisint's cloud-based collaboration platform, which connects physicians to patient information and healthcare applications in a Web-based environment, and Carefx's Fusionfx, an interoperable workflow solution for hospitals and health systems that's designed to streamline the way clinicians interact with patient data.

"The combined Covisint and Carefx solution will significantly improve healthcare delivery by covering all facets of the patient care spectrum," said Brett Furst, vice president of healthcare for Covisint. "Covisint and Carefx are committed to shaping the future of healthcare with solutions serving the entire care continuum. Together, this relationship leverages innovation in a way that improves complete access to patient information to ensure quality of care, while driving down costs."

The HIT Policy Committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has identified data capture and sharing as one of three phases for achieving meaningful use of health information technology, along with advanced clinical processes and improved outcomes.

Officials say the Covisint-Carefx partnership addresses the data-sharing requirement for achieving meaningful use by tying together multiple information systems through customized portals that synchronize patient information across every point of care.

"Leveraging the technology innovation of our two companies provides the ability to present information that draws on a patient's encounters with multiple practitioners. With public attention focused on quality of care, this collaboration is more important than ever," said Andrew Hurd, chairman and CEO of Carefx.

Officials say the partnership is likely to generate greater interest in healthcare information exchange development and participation. A 2009 survey from the non-profit eHealth Initiative reported that the electronic exchange of health information among physicians, hospitals, health plans and patients had increased 40 percent since 2008, with gains seen in cost management and care provided by physician practices.

The Covisint-Carefx platform is designed to enable healthcare communities and organizations to:

• Access and share a wide variety of administrative and clinical information, including the ability to manage order and results delivery, e-prescribing and integration with most ambulatory electronic medical record and practice management systems.
• Deliver community-wide single sign-on access to all external applications and services via AppCloud, Covisint's marketplace of healthcare applications that are accessed by a physician practice or hospital. AppCloud leverages Covisint's federation capabilities and includes patient-centric management, enabling navigation across multiple, disparate applications.
• Enable the aggregation of community-based patient information into patient-centric dashboard views in one central location for providers and physicians.