Infosys deploys patient management tool

Bangalore, May 28 (UNI) Infosys Technologies Limited today announced deployment of a patient management tool for an award-winning health information technology (IT) initiative to improve healthcare access for rural and underserved patients.

The initiative, Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO), was in collboration with the University of New Mexico (UNM) to improve patient outcomes by designing and implementing a Web application that facilitates real-time flow and access of interoperable clinical data among participating health providers, a release said here.

The ECHO's Web-based patient management tool had an intuitive web interface that efficiently and securely integrates patient data in real-time from all participating health providers, leveraging Infosys' Healthcare Integration and Collaboration solution.

As a result, physicians could co-manage patients based on a more accurate exchange of data. This was expected to enhance case-based educational experiences by facilitating more informed care-management decision making and continuous training of rural physicians.

The clinician-centric tool also delivered a platform for physicians to stay connected with patients throughout the treatment, ensuring better prognosis and improved patient compliance.

Responding to a pressing need to improve Hepatitis-C treatment among rural communities, the UNM Health Sciences Centre and the Departments of Health and Corrections developed Project ECHO, funded by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The organisations used teleconferences, telemedicine and the Internet to develop the backbone of the programme 'Knowledge networks' enabled physicians to co-manage patients with primary caregivers in rural communities and share their expertise of best-practice treatment protocols using a case-based learning approach.

Over time, rural health providers become highly skilled in treating chronic diseases, providing better care and greater access to specialty care for all patents. Since June 2004 the project had conducted 205 Hepatitis-C Knowledge Network clinics and provided 2,316 consultations for patients.

UNI VK DS 1621