Rochester area health care providers will now have access to essential information about patients collected by first responders in the moments after a call to 911. The Rochester Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) is partnering with local ambulance services to upgrade its database.
RHIO Executive Director Ted Kremer says the sharing of this information can make a significant difference in the treatment of patients. "Something like 25 percent of 9-1-1 calls result in an ambulance going out and treatment a patient, but not transporting them. That information does not make its way to either the Emergency Department or their primary care physicians."
Local emergency physicians worked with RHIO and EMS agencies to develop a consistent clinical format for the electronic pre-hospital care documents. Kremer says more than 850,000 Rochester area patients have consented to have their medical information shared on the RHIO network since 2006. RHIO is currently working on an upgrade which would alert primary care physicians when their patients have been admitted to an area hospital.