Coastal Connect Health Information Exchange recently announced the connection of 10 unaffiliated physician practices to its health information exchange.

In three days, the 10 practices were connected and electronically transmitting patient referrals using Medicity’s iNexx technology. The next phase will include delivery of clinical results and reports to the practices from five local hospitals, CCHIE spokeswoman Janet Cabibbo said.

The full rollout will begin in October, with a first-year goal of connecting 144 CCNC physician practices. The effort is funded in part by a $1.46 million grant awarded by The Duke Endowment, “demonstrating the ease with which physicians can connect with CCHIE and coordinate care with other providers to improve clinical decision-making,” Cabibbo said.

The system will be a benefit for healthcare providers such as Wilmington Health Associates.

“The ability to track referrals and communicate care documents across the counties our facility serves electronically with the same ease as sending or receiving an email makes our job much easier,” Jeff James, WHA chief operating officer, said in a news release.

Doctors typically refer a patient to a specialist or other care provider through a time-consuming, manual process of completing a paper referral form, faxing it and then trading calls with the other physician’s office to ensure receipt, Cabibbo said.

“Equally inefficient is the manual process of obtaining results of the care provided to the patient at the referral appointment. Another… is emergency department encounters being communicated back to the patient’s primary physician,” Cabibbo said. “The HIE platform provides for the connection of the ED encounter to be linked and a message sent to the physician.”

Using iNexx, physician practices, whether they have an electronic health record already, or rely on paper records, can manage this process electronically, making it easier to provide the best possible care for patients, and collaborate with other members of a patient’s care team, Cabibbo said.

“We hope every physician will take advantage of this opportunity to improve patient care and practice workflow. Getting on board will also help them qualify for Meaningful Use incentives,” Dr. Sam Spicer, CIO New Hanover Regional Medical Center and CCHIE Board Director, said in a news release.

Coastal Connect Health Information Exchange is a regional collaboration of healthcare professionals in eastern North Carolina formed for the purpose of sharing electronic medical information and services.

For more information visit http://coastalconnect.org. Physicians interested in connecting to CCHIE can contact Patty Lewis at [email protected].

New Hanover House to open in Wilmington

New Hanover House, North Carolina’s newest state-of-the-art assisted living and memory care community, will host an open house from 2 to 5 p.m. October 19.

New Hanover House is located at 3915 Stedwick Court. It’s located in a new, 25,000 square-foot structure. The facility will open about October 15, said Neal Peterson, spokesman for New Hanover House.

Meridian Senior Living, which provides care and life services for more than 5,000 people in 12 states, operates the facility.
Sean McAuliffe was recently named executive director of the facility.

“We are extremely excited about the opening of New Hanover House, the local residents it will serve, and the local jobs it will create,” Peterson said.

“Wilmington has been most gracious in welcoming us here, and we look forward to returning the courtesy by our involvement with, and commitment to… Wilmington and New Hanover County.”

New Hanover House will serve 61 residents, Peterson said. Licensed for 29 assisted living residents, New Hanover House also contains a self-contained Memory Care community serving 32 residents.

Private and companion rooms will be provided, plus all the amenities of daily living, Peterson said, including three meals a day, plus snacks, medication administration, a full activities program and local transportation.

The Memory Care community at New Hanover House will be a secure residential area for those suffering from Alzheimer’s or other memory-robbing dementias, Peterson said.

“Staff members are specially trained to work with and serve these individuals in all aspects of daily living,” he said.

For more information, contact Peterson at (910) 632-2671.

Brunswick Women’s Center welcomes Dr. Lee Toler

Dr. Lee Toler joined the physicians of Brunswick Women’s Center on September 19.

Toler, who relocated to the area from Gastonia, will see patients at each of the Brunswick Women’s Center locations in Supply, Sunset Beach and Leland.

He joins doctors Robert E. Hassler, Tracey McCarthy and L. Joseph Swaim at Brunswick Women’s Center. All are board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology.

A graduate of Bluefield State College in Bluefield, W.Va., Toler began his medical career as a nurse working in the emergency department, cardiovascular intensive care unit, operating room and as a home health nurse. He decided to return to medical school and completed his degree at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg. His later came to North Carolina, where he completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington. Toler has since practiced at Courtview OB/GYN in Gastonia.

“I am excited to return to southeastern North Carolina. I am particularly looking forward to working alongside the physicians at Brunswick Women’s Center and getting to know this community,” Toler said in a prepared statement.

Brunswick Women’s Center provides a full range of gynecological and obstetrical services. All of the physicians at Brunswick Women’s Center are on staff at Brunswick Novant Medical Center, which opened in July.

For more information, visit www.BrunswickWomensCenter.org.

SEAHEC welcomes new physician, faculty member

The South East Area Health Education Center has added Dr. David L. Smith as a Pediatric Intensivist with the Department of Pediatric Specialty Services in the Betty H. Cameron Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Smith completed his residency andhis fellowship in pediatric critical care at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Ark.

In addition to seeing patients at the Betty H. Cameron Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Smith will also join the teaching faculty at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Residency Program in Pediatric Medicine as an associate professor.

Before joining SEAHEC, Smith practiced general pediatrics in northwest Arkansas for 15 years, including his fellowship training. Before becoming a physician, Smith served as an EMT-Paramedic for 10 years and has an EMT-Paramedic degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and an associate degree in Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Smith is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Dr. Smith’s varied background as both an EMT-Paramedic and a pediatric physician provides him with a rare insight into critical pediatric care,” said Dr. Mark Darrow, SEAHEC president and CEO.