Dive Brief:
- After a delay which frustrated some of the organization's users, Kaiser Permanente Northern California has signed on to Epic System Corp.'s Care Everywhere network; the network allows providers who use Epic to share patient health information across organizational boundaries.
- Other Kaiser divisions have already been participating in the network, which debuted in California in 2008; it includes Sutter Health and other major regional players such as Stanford Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Medical Center and UC Davis Health System, Modern Healthcare notes.
- The move brings participants real-time access to patient and family medical histories, previous diagnoses, lab tests, physician notes and other health data. The data will be shared online through an encrypted connection.
Dive Insight:
Joining the Care Everywhere network sounds like a good idea for Kaiser, particularly given Epic's massive market share in California. However, experts note that connecting providers to a one vendor makes them quite dependent on that vendor. I for one would hesitate to put all of my data sharing activities in the hands of a single vendor, as it gives me little negotiating power if Epic unilaterally changes the rules. Let's see if Care Everywhere raises red flags with any of its partners in the future regarding ownership of data.