Message from

Gregory Szlyk, MD; Chair, IT Committee

As the MWMD Alliance evolves we continue to look for ways we can deliver high quality patient care in the most efficient manner. We all strive, as individual practices, to deliver the best possible care while being conscientious of our healthcare resources. Our culture of independence is probably one of our greatest strengths, but as a network, it can also be a liability when it comes to true clinical integration. Each year this vulnerability becomes more apparent as we participate in higher risk value-based contracts.

When building our informatics platform we went to great lengths to architect a data aggregation infrastructure that would allow us to consume, process, and analyze data from the many disparate sources in our network. However, despite being able to process claims and financial data from dozens of payers, providers, and government reporting platforms, our clinical data remains fragmented among over 20 different EMR platforms in our community.

In 2012, when a small group of founding physicians and community leaders began designing what would someday become the MWMD Alliance, we envisioned a truly collaborative healthcare network. Part of achieving that goal will be figuring out how to seamlessly share clinical data across the continuum of care. The good news is that progress is being made. In 2018 MWHC replaced its existing EMR with EPIC and recently, in partnership with the Alliance, the Epic Community Connect platform was launched. Epic Community Connect allows community practices to replace their existing EMR, Practice Management system and Portal with Epic, consolidating clinical patient data into a single record. Since Epic is a fully integrated EMR, Epic Community Connect participants can also access a patient’s chart from outside institutions like UVA, INOVA, JHU, and many others.

The future success of the Alliance depends on our ability to work together in truly integrated fashion. Believing this to be such a critical need, the Alliance has unveiled an attractive incentive program which will subsidize a significant portion of the Epic Connect subscription and installation for Alliance practices. All practices, regardless of specialty, are encouraged to take a close look at the Epic Connect incentive program. Practices can schedule an evaluation to determine the exact configuration required to meet their needs. Inquiries can be directed to Karin Haynes, our Connect Program Manager at karin.haynes@mwhc.com.