Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital's Medical Record-Sharing Network Improves Efficiency and Quality of Care, Connecting Patients With the Best Physicians in the Region

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) urges patients to enroll in RWJ Health Connect Patient Portal, an online service that enables health information exchange to enhance patient care. RWJ Health Connect, which is a part of the Jersey Health Connect network, allows patients to get their test results and manage their healthcare easier than ever, reducing barriers to collaboration among health care providers while improving care efficiency.

Jersey Health Connect is the state’s largest health information exchange organization with over 30 health systems and hospitals, physician group practices, long-term care facilities and home health agencies. The system allows patients to have their own secure patient portal that gives them 24-hour access to personal health information including their recent doctor visits, medications, immunizations, allergies, lab results, discharge summaries and more.

Patient, Jill Ashinsky, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, keeps track of her glucose numbers and posts them to her RWJ Health Connect profile to maintain her health. While she was away at school, she had all of her lab results plugged into her records, so her physician at the hospital could review the numbers and adjust her medications as needed. Health Connect has been invaluable for managing her diabetes. “Being able to contact my doctor and get a timely response within 24 hours has been a huge help,” Ashinsky said. “It’s really comforting to have all of this information at my fingertips.”

Patients are also finding RWJ Health Connect to be useful in managing their family’s healthcare. Danielle Scoon, a patient from Union, N.J., enrolled in the system after receiving a kidney transplant. She uses RWJ Health Connect to coordinate her care with doctors outside of RWJ, take care of herself and manage her two children’s healthcare. “It’s easy for me to go to other doctors and share test results and imaging results so they can help monitor me,” Scoon said. “It keeps all of the doctors on the same page. It also is very convenient for a busy, single parent like myself.”

Historically, a major obstacle in care delivery has been untimely and limited access to patient medical information. Technical differences between patients’ health providers create barriers to both sharing and using information in a timely manner, resulting in delays, duplicated efforts and testing, potential errors, etc. RWJ Health Connect streamlines the patient’s information and makes it easier for healthcare providers to quickly share medical data, making it easier to collaborate on patient care to support better outcomes. It also allows patients to stay at the forefront of their own health, providing them access to review and update their relevant medical information.

Sharan Mahal, MD, a board-certified cardiologist with RWJUH utilizes RWJ Health Connect to access his patients’ lab results immediately, while his patient is in the office. “It reduces delays and unnecessary repeat tests since the patient’s information is stored in one location,” Mahal said. “It’s a valuable tool to ensure we provide appropriate therapy, deliver better and more accurate treatments, and reduces the amount of phone calls to obtain a patient’s records.”

RWJ Health Connect’s interoperability ultimately makes it easier for patients who need to be transferred to a different hospital or physician network without the hassle of manually moving electronic medical records from one system to the next. To date, approximately 22,000 local residents are taking advantage of this technology and utilizing RWJ Health Connect across the New Brunswick, Somerset, Hamilton and Rahway campuses.

“Being a part of Jersey Health Connect allows us to work in tandem with various health care systems and physicians in the region to establish a deeper community network and significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of care provided to our patients,” said Robert Irwin, Corporate Chief Information Officer of Robert Wood Johnson Health System. “The goal is to make it as easy as possible for physicians to provide the highest quality care and for patients to have access to the best care and physicians. Health Connect allows patient information to be available for a provider at the point of decision making, which could potentially save the patient’s life.”

RWJ Health Connect only works if patients and providers are engaged. To learn more about RWJ Health Connect or to enroll today, please visit http://www.rwjuh.edu/rwjuh/rwj-health-connect.aspx.

For more information on RWJUH, please visit www.rwjuh.edu. For a referral to a physician affiliated with RWJUH, please call 1-888-MD-RWJUH. Follow us on Twitter at www.rwjuh.edu/twitter and Facebook at www.rwjuh.edu/facebook.