The Camden Coalition Health Information Exchange (HIE) allows providers throughout South Jersey to contribute and view healthcare data from across the region. As more healthcare and social service delivery sites contribute data, providers can have a much clearer view of their patients’ medical and service history, both within their own health system and in other systems. Two new data sources, skilled nursing provider Genesis HealthCare and state-wide hospital admission, discharge, and transfer data from the New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN), are helping to provide a more extensive view of healthcare utilization in South Jersey.

Bringing long-term care data into the Camden Coalition HIE

Traditionally, one of the major gaps in health data sharing has been with long-term care facilities. Because skilled nursing facilities were excluded from meaningful use efforts, they typically are underfunded for digital recordkeeping and therefore do not usually participate in HIEs. This underinvestment has created challenges for care coordination and care transitions for patients moving between hospitals, skilled nursing, and the community. However, Genesis HealthCare, a national long-term care provider with sites in New Jersey, has been able to participate in HIEs even without meaningful use funding.

The Camden Coalition HIE is taking a major step improving access to patients’ data here in South Jersey by bringing on Genesis HealthCare, which provides short-term post-acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing, and long-term care services. In mid-March, these Genesis HealthCare sites started contributing patient demographic data; admission, discharge, and transfer notifications; and continuity of care documents summarizing procedures, lab results, medication information; and discharge notes to the Camden Coalition HIE:

• Burlington Center
• Court House Center
• Kresson View Center
• Marcella Center
• Mercerville Center
• Millville Center
• North Cape Center
• PowerBack Rehab Moorestown
• PowerBack Rehab, Voorhees
• Victoria Manor
• Voorhees Center

Genesis HealthCare is the first skilled nursing facility/long term care organization to contribute data to the Camden Coalition HIE. Health systems are hoping this data can help improve their transitions of care planning as patients are admitted to skilled nursing facilities and later discharged to reconnect with their primary care and other services. Furthermore, improving care transitions can support health systems and skilled nursing facilities in the performance in value-based programs like Medicare Shared Savings Programs and Accountable Care Organizations.

Due to advanced age and underlying health conditions, people residing in skilled nursing facilities are at greater risk for COVID-19 and its complications, when compared to the general population. Access to the Camden Coalition HIE brings two specific benefits to Genesis HealthCare’s the COVID-19 response: First, the Camden Coalition HIE flags patients at particularly high risk for COVID-19 complications, enabling Genesis HealthCare providers to readily see and react to this information when individuals are admitted to participating long-term care sites or seek care at an emergency department. Second, if patients test positive for COVID-19, the Camden Coalition HIE can facilitate more comprehensive and timely communication among their community-based primary care, skilled nursing, and acute care providers.

Integrating statewide hospital admission, discharge, and transfer data into the Camden Coalition HIE

The New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN) is the state-wide health information network and is a program of the New Jersey Department of Health and managed by the New Jersey Innovation Institute. The NJHIN receives admission, discharge, and transfer data from every hospital in the state. In May 2020, we began receiving data from the NJHIN for patients who have existing Camden Coalition HIE records. This gives providers who use the Camden Coalition HIE a fuller picture of their patients’ healthcare utilization throughout the state. Over the next few months, the Camden Coalition HIE team will be participating in the advisory committee to help develop plans for integrating records that are managed by the Department of Health, such as childhood immunizations, into the Camden Coalition HIE.

As monitoring COVID-19 prevalence in South Jersey continues to be a priority, having this broader view of hospital utilization throughout the state will be essential. South Jersey-based providers will be able to see data from other hospitals, allowing them to ensure continuity of COVID-19 care for their patients even if their patients seek care outside of our region.

These new data sources make communicating about healthcare easier for both patients and providers. Patients will be asked less often to self-report their healthcare encounters, diagnoses, and lab results when they seek care in other parts of the state. Providers will have access to more of the information they need to make sound clinical decisions. We are optimistic that these new data sets will facilitate better patient care and build toward a more holistic and longitudinal view of patients’ care.

For more information about the Camden Coalition HIE, contact [email protected].