GRIPA Member News

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September 18, 2007

GRIPA Receives Favorable Advisory Opinion from FTC for Clinical Integration Program

Second in the Nation; First in Five Years

(Rochester, New York, September 18, 2007) The Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association (GRIPA) received a favorable advisory opinion yesterday from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its Clinical Integration program. This is only the second time that the FTC has given a favorable advisory opinion to a clinical integration program and the first time in five years.

GRIPA has been developing this program, called GRIPA Connect™ Clinical Integration, over the past two years. The initiative is focused on improving the quality of health care and access to care, while curbing costs. The goal of GRIPA Connect Clinical Integration is to create a connected community of physicians, hospitals, labs and imaging facilities which will share electronic access to patient information.

“The Federal Trade Commission’s staff opinion issued today on our plans for GRIPA Connect Clinical Integration indicates that the FTC does not intend to challenge our program, which includes our negotiating payer contracts on behalf of our members, and lets us move forward,” said Gregg Coughlin, GRIPA President. “We believe that GRIPA Connect Clinical Integration will return Rochester to being a national model for quality health care that’s affordable.”

As part of clinical integration, the physicians in the GRIPA Network are required, when medically appropriate, to adhere to Clinical Guidelines developed by the physicians themselves based on research into the best practices in the country.

GRIPA physicians will also have an easy-to-use, secure, web-based portal for access to patient information and electronic tools to act on that information, including such features as electronic prescribing, electronic lab test ordering and tracking of referrals between physicians. Security is paramount, with access to a patient’s record limited only to that patient’s care team.

A Health Information Exchange (HIE) — a virtual electronic network for physicians to securely collaborate with each other and the patients they’re treating — is at the heart of this effort. Patients will benefit because physicians will have easy access to more complete information and will be able to move more quickly and effectively to implement the best treatment plan. Physicians will have more time to spend with their patients because they will be able to spend less time looking for patient results and referral materials.

“Too often, physicians don’t have complete information about a patient,” said GRIPA Chief Medical Officer, Eric Nielsen, MD. “Whether it’s a list of the medications that a patient takes, lab results, or imaging studies, it’s imperative that physicians have a comprehensive view of all of the relevant information. We expect that having that information at the point of care will dramatically improve patient outcomes while reducing the cost of care.”

Visit the Advisory Opinions page on the FTC site.

Download the GRIPA Advisory Opinion from the FTC.

GRIPA is a partnership of physicians and ViaHealth hospitals in Monroe and Wayne Counties and the Greater Rochester region, including private physicians and employed physicians on staff at Rochester General Hospital and Newark Wayne Community Hospital as well as Rochester General Physicians Organization and the Wayne County Physicians Organization.  GRIPA was named to the Rochester Top 100 for the past three years. For more information visit www.gripa.org and www.gripaconnect.com.

 

GRIPA Connect Web Portal Update:
More Information, Easier to Access

We regularly make changes and updates to the GRIPA Connect™ web portal to ensure that it’s easy to use and includes the most valuable information for your practice. Some of the changes and updates are the result of suggestions from physicians and their office staffs. Suggestions are initially brought to the GRIPA Portal Enhancement Committee and those that require physician input are brought to the GRIPA Connect Technology Steering Committee for discussion and implementation recommendations.

Here is an up-to-date list of additional features and changes we have made to the GRIPA Connect portal.

Clinical Care Guidelines

To date, 45 Clinical Care Guidelines have been approved by the GRIPA Board of Directors and posted to the portal.

Health Care Resources

This section is regularly updated with additional physician tools and patient education material, as well as links recommended by our physicians. Included on this page are Rochester General Hospital, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital, and Hill Haven Nursing Unit phone number lists. We’ve also added a Pharmacy Locator as well as medication formularies and insurance formularies with web links to insurers. Links to information on advanced directives and some disease-specific information have been added as well.

Medical Libraries

In addition to the basic features of the GRIPA Connect Clinical Integration web portal—secure messaging, access to patient information including lab and radiology reports, access to clinical guidelines and other useful information—reference tools for physician use are included.

Two of these special features are Thomson Healthcare and VisualDx® point-of-care diagnostic software. Physicians who have signed a Clinical Integration contract and have been trained to use the portal will have access to these comprehensive tools.

Data Sources

Rochester Radiology Associates is the latest data source to be added to GRIPA Connect. Our current data sources include ACM Labs, Rochester General Health System Labs, Admissions, Discharges, and Transfers, Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic Reports.

Clinical Applications

This category on the left-hand navigation bar is where you’ll find a links to the log-in screens for other applications. You’ll need to have a username and password to access each of these systems.

Referral Management

One of the most valuable tools on the GRIPA Connect™ web portal is the Referral Management feature. Primary Care Physicians can refer their patients to specialists using this secure online channel, which will limit phone calls and increase patient satisfaction.

GRIPA Connect Web Portal Tutorials

Tutorials available on the portal to supplement in-person training. They will guide users through specific features on GRIPA Connect with step-by-step instructions and demonstrations.

Point of Care Alerts

Point of Care Alerts have been added to the portal to notify physicians about patient-specific treatment needs at the point of care or even prior to a patient visit. Physicians will be alerted when a patient is overdue for a test or is beyond a treatment goal for preventive services and disease states addressed by the GRIPA Connect Clinical Care Guidelines. Point of Care Alerts are being turned on for each practice as GRIPA receives and loads practice management data.

ePrescribing

ePrescribing. This function allows practices to send prescriptions directly to pharmacies. In addition, the information from ePrescribing will be displayed in the portal for those users involved in the patient’s care.

Patient Privacy

We are compliant with HIPAA and New York State privacy regulations as they currently stand. We recognize that privacy and access to data are both important to good quality care—and are sometimes at odds. We’re doing everything we can to find the right balance between them, and we will continue to work on this issue and keep you informed.

 

Thank you for your interest in the GRIPA Connect web portal. We welcome your questions or additional suggestions. Please call GRIPA Provider Relations at 585-922-1525.