SANTA CRUZ, CA – Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County, a California-based  independent physician organization and the lead participant in the Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange, has implemented a community-wide virtual health record for its physicians.

PMG deployed the Elysium Virtual Health Record from the San Jose, Calif.-based Axolotl Corporation to its 300 physicians, linking them to patient data at the point of care.

"We are excited to have taken our Elysium implementation to the next level," said Bill Beighe, chief information officer of PMG. "We have been using Axolotl's solutions to exchange clinical information between disparate systems for the last 13 years. With a single click, extended patient information is accessible and displayed like a patient chart."

The virtual health record provides PMG physicians with a comprehensive view of the patient, allowing them to electronically locate, connect to and review a holistic patient chart that is drawn from data in multiple healthcare systems. Patient data is assembled using a record locator service to create a complete electronic health record without commingling data from disparate sources. Physicians may also select specific data from a patient's health record and download it to their EMR or EMR Lite application.

"Axolotl has been our HIE partner, continually evolving our solutions to meet our current healthcare needs," said Marvin Labrie, chief executive officer of PMG. "Our clinicians, at the point of care, can view patient labs, medications, allergies, radiology reports and more - assisting them in making quality decisions in a timely manner."

The Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange was spearheaded by PMG in 1996 and is now considered the longest running successful HIE in the United States. The HIE connects PMG, two local hospitals, the County Health Clinics, two national and two local reference labs, two imaging centers and several FQHC safety net clinics.

"Santa Cruz has been a role model for HIE in the United States," said Ray Scott, Axolotl's CEO. "The IPA spearheaded the initiative, bringing on board competing hospitals, labs, radiology centers and pharmacies to create an interoperable healthcare environment. The community has grown to include more than 95 percent of the region's population and more than 700 regular on-line healthcare professionals. Santa Cruz is healthcare connected."