The Health division of Wolters Kluwer, a global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, announced a partnership with HealthCore to provide data normalization services to the California Integrated Data Exchange (Cal INDEX™). Deployment of the Health Language® Enterprise Terminology Management Platform will ensure the integrity and semantic interoperability of data flowing through the statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE).
Cal INDEX is an independent nonprofit organization founded through $80 million in seed 
funding from Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross to initially integrate approximately 30 large provider organizations across the state, encompassing approximately 9 million patient records from the health plans’ combined members. Open to any health data contributor, Cal INDEX will provide the underlying data and technology platform to improve quality of care by providing clinicians with a unified statewide source of integrated patient information, as well as improve efficiency and reduce the cost of healthcare.
The Health Language solution will be used in tandem with HealthCore’s first-of-a-kind integrated database to address the complexities and nuances of the data flowing through Cal INDEX.
“Clean, unambiguous data is crucial to our mission of facilitating comprehensive HIE to provide Californians with access to sustainable quality care at an affordable price, and to demonstrate value to our providers, partners and stakeholders,” said Siv Raman, MD, MS, Staff VP Data Integration and Clinical Informatics, HealthCore, a wholly-owned and independently operated subsidiary of Anthem, Inc. “The Health Language Enterprise Terminology Management Platform enables us to normalize problem lists, medication histories, lab results and other key patient data from across our provider network for enhanced analytics and improved outcomes measures.”
HIE, accountable care, medical homes, data warehousing and other value-based care initiatives are challenged by semantic interoperability—the ability of two or more healthcare systems to share clinical information and use it meaningfully—and a lack of a universal terminology standard. The Health Language Enterprise Terminology Management Platform overcomes these issues by providing the software, content, and consulting solutions needed to map, translate, update, and manage standard and enhanced clinical terminologies on an enterprise scale. This enables a semantically normalized information model essential for use of evidence-based care protocols, quality improvement and population health management.
The platform also features automated translation algorithms that can be used to normalize full catalogs or distinct elements from cryptic and poorly maintained source data into standard terminologies. A web-based access portal also enables collaboration on translation and task review while maintaining full terminology content versioning and comprehensive audit trail.
“Understandable data and data integrity are crucial to success in value-based care initiatives because they enable advanced analytics for more accurate measure of performance, outcomes and costs,” said David A. Del Toro, President & CEO of Clinical Software Solutions at Wolters Kluwer. “We are excited by this opportunity to play a role in the success of Cal INDEX, an innovative approach to HIE that has the potential to become the baseline against which HIEs nationwide are measured.”
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer’s market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2014 annual revenues of €3.7 billion. The group serves customers in over 170 countries, and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).
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