Strategic agreement with Epic will provide valuable resources for independent providers
APPLETON, Wis., — NOVO Health, through its subsidiary NOVO Health Technology Group, has entered into an agreement with Epic to provide an integrated, comprehensive health record system to independent health care providers within the NOVO Health community.
The agreement empowers independent health care providers with the quality EHR tools they need without compromising their independence. NOVO Health’s providers will benefit from the software features that support their mission to lower costs, provide a clinically integrated network and deliver employer-based care.
Sandi Rochon, NOVO Health’s chief clinical integration officer, said the agreement gives NOVO Health’s independent providers valuable options when it comes to securely managing and sharing patient health information.
“This will be a game changer for our physicians, physician recruitment and for our NOVO Health program opportunities at a lot of those sites,” said Rochon, who also serves as the CEO for NeuroSpine Center of Wisconsin, an independent spine care practice. “This will be a central component of our service offerings, allowing more independent providers to participate in value-based care and share data across multiple health systems and other independent providers.”
Rochon sees the opportunity as a way to strengthen NOVO Health’s already growing bundled payment program and on-site specialty care offerings and as a platform for innovation. Key features of the agreement with Epic include a commitment to frequent updates to bring providers and patients the very latest in Epic technology, and the ability for providers to manage patients seamlessly between their clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. As care continues to migrate to outpatient settings, the efficiencies from these advancements will serve not only providers and their patients but can be passed along to employers who choose NOVO Health programs as a part of their employee benefit plans.
NOVO Health is deploying Epic in partnership with Focus Solutions, an Appleton, Wis.-based health care IT consulting firm founded in 2013. Focus Solutions brings to the project extensive experience hosting and implementing EHR solutions, advanced data analytics, interoperability solutions, and a track record of service to independent providers across the country.
Based in Verona, Wis., Epic is a leading provider of healthcare software that is used around the world to provide high-quality patient care. Epic’s robust and secure health information sharing brings together patients’ information, so providers have a more complete picture of their health. Patients will have convenient access to online scheduling, prescription refills, provider messaging and more through MyChart, Epic’s patient portal. More than 250 million people worldwide and over 90 percent of Wisconsinites have an electronic health record in Epic.
The addition of electronic health records access is the latest in the expansion of the programs offered through the NOVO Health Market. What began as a single bundled payment program in 2014 has now grown to more than a dozen programs built around the principle that partnerships between independent health care providers and other local businesses are the key to affordable, accessible, top quality health care.
“This is one of those opportunities that changes the dynamic of our organization dramatically,” NOVO Health CEO Curt Kubiak said. “We will have a very robust service offering to provide to groups interested in joining us, and I’m just incredibly excited about it.”
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NOVO Health connects board certified and accredited health care providers, business owners, and their employees via NOVO Health’s intuitive Market. NOVO health programs empower a like-minded community to reclaim the American dream for ALL by providing the most efficient way to directly connect local health care providers, business owners and their employees via NOVO Health’s intuitive market, which empowers groups to save together, grow together, and achieve goals together.
