LANSING, Mich., April 22, 2019 — Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) has launched a new pilot program in collaboration with Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) and Occupational Research Assessment (ORA) in January 2019 to help medical examiners quickly process healthcare information for deceased individuals.
Prior to MiHIN’s pilot program, Query Patient Record History, medical examiners had to request hard copy medical records and had to manually search for additional information via phone and fax. With the pilot program, medical examiners can now enter a case into MDILog, a web-based case management software, and if information is available within the MiHIN network, a message will be sent back to the Medical Examiner electronically. Information can include the deceased identifying demographics, primary care provider, medication information, any admission, discharge or transfer information, which can include a chief complaint, an admission diagnosis, treatment plan, discharge notes and any continuity of care documents that has been received by MiHIN in the last 90 days.
Within the pilot’s short two-month period, 736 cases have been entered in the MDILog and 78.4 percent of the cases entered have received a message back from MiHIN.
“The MIHIN pilot project is a giant leap in the direction of providing needed medical information on recently deceased individuals to the investigating medical examiner who is charged with determining a cause of death,” said Dr. Joyce L. DeJong, Professor, WMU. “What once took hours to days, with faxed requests for information and often repeated faxed requests, is now provided within minutes.”
The pilot currently operates in 13 counties in Michigan and the goal is to grow the program throughout the state.
“This pilot has proven to be a game changer for medical examiners,” said Megan Gibbs, MiHIN Solutions Analyst and pilot coordinator. “Being able to provide Medical Examiners with a health history on a deceased individual not only improves efficiencies, but also provides them with the data at the right time for an accurate declaration of an unexpected death.”
“As a system designer, you are always looking to identify efficiencies. Today this involves linking data systems, and for the Michigan Medical Examiners MiHIN is the organization that provides this link,” said Steve Clark, PhD who established ORA in 1987 and the MDILog software in 2007. “MiHIN has the data needed and this is critical to the success of the Medical Examiner Pilot – getting the information to the examiners in a timely manner when investigating sudden, unexpected deaths.”
About Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services
The Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) is Michigan’s state-designated entity to improve healthcare quality, efficiency, and patient safety by sharing electronic health information statewide, helping reduce costs for patients, providers, and payers. MiHIN is a nonprofit, public-private collaboration that includes stakeholders from the State of Michigan, Health Information Exchanges serving Michigan, health systems and providers, health plans/payers, pharmacies, and the Governor’s Health Information Technology Commission. For more information, visit https://mihin.org.
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For additional information, contact:
Alyssa Jones
Public Relations Manager
Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services
269.832.8353
[email protected]