MIT Implements Cerner EHR, Population Health Management

MIT Medical is set to implement Cerner Millennium EHR as well as the health IT company’s population health management platform in an effort to streamline clinical, financial, and population health management at the Massachusetts-based technology institute.

The integrated system is also equipped with functionalities centered on encouraging active patient engagement to offer patients a role in managing their own health. 

 “Cerner will help MIT Medical interact much more seamlessly with our patients, enhancing their experience of care,” said MIT Medical Director Cecilia Stuopis, MD. “We expect that the system’s increased efficiency for our providers, frontline staff and business office will eliminate many of the day-to-day frustrations our employees now experience.”

Presently, MIT Medical delivers care to over 20,000 students, faculty, staff, and retirees as well as their families.

Cerner’s suite of solutions will allow MIT Medical to perform daily clinical processes and manage patient care across its two facilities in Cambridge and Lexington, MA.

 “The Cerner platform will allow us to house data in one integrated database that can be accessed by both our EHR and scheduling and billing platforms,” said MIT Medical Director of Information Services Shelagh Joyce. “The system will also enable us to connect electronically to other health care institutions, give our clinicians equally good access across desktop and mobile platforms and offer a more function-rich patient portal.”

The healthcare organization will use Cerner EHR to connect patients to their providers through a single patient portal. The patient portal presents an opportunity for patients to personally monitor and manage their own healthcare.

 “We’re looking forward to the many ways this new system will improve our patient experience here at MIT Medical,” said Stuopis. “Patients will be able to contribute information about their health on an ongoing basis and have it integrated directly into the health record. We’ll be able to launch video visits for some types of care, allowing patients and providers to interact directly without needing to come to MIT Medical for a visit.”

MIT Medical is also planning to implement Cerner’s population health management platform HealtheIntent. The solution collects and normalizes data from a variety of sources to give clinicians meaningful health data for the purposes of identifying and stratifying patient populations to find and absolve gaps in care.

The platform also engages patients outside the hospital setting and assists providers in managing patient outcomes to improve the overall health of each population.

 “One of the most compelling things about Cerner is that their own clinicians use the software they develop. It’s very unique to find a technology provider with that kind of front-line health care experience,” said Joyce.

HealtheIntent incorporates patient experiences across the continuum of care to offer providers a single, longitudinal picture of each patient’s health.

 “We’re excited to bring technology to MIT Medical that will help engage their students, faculty, staff and retirees in their health care,” said Cerner President Zane Burke. “Our solutions will support their clinical processes, facilitate proactive patient health management and assisting clinicians in providing value-based care to the MIT community.”

Large health systems including Carolinas HealthCare System have also recently implemented Cerner’s population health management platform to establish a longitudinal health record for all individuals of its specific community.

HealtheIntent now assists in managing care for more than 12 million patient interactions annually at all care sites part of Carolinas Physician Alliance.

Along with health IT giant Epic, Cerner has been dominating the population health management market following a trend of health IT companies becoming increasingly comprehensive in their product offerings.

 The vendors have expanded their solutions to include more of the clinical and administrative capabilities to stratify risk, follow patients across the continuum of care, and promote patient engagement.

With health systems such as Carolinas and MIT Medical on board, Cerner will likely continue to expand their user base for emerging, integrated population health management solutions.