Our presence in 48 states, and the community hospitals and providers we serve, made the goal of seamless EHR interoperability a top priority for CPSI. The emergence of CommonWell Health Alliance answered the urgent need for patient information exchange and was the driving force in our becoming a member in 2013.

Many of CPSI’s customers are located in a rural area, and face the challenge of sharing patient records every day. Regularly, community hospitals and their medical staff have tertiary referral needs that are hours away. When transferring their patients to an urban provider, it is imperative that all the vital medical information is immediately accessible. With the help of CommonWell, not only will the essential medical information be readily available to the referring provider, but in many instances, it will be accessible before the patient arrives, giving ample time to the receiving medical team to determine the most appropriate treatment once the patient arrives. Likewise, having the patient’s information electronically available to the local provider upon the patient’s return home is crucial to ensure the best ongoing care possible.

CommonWell is laying the necessary electronic groundwork so that rural hospitals and medical providers will be able to ensure vital health information will be readily accessible to every member of the medical community that the patient encounters, whether rural to rural or rural to urban. And not only will the providers benefit from this sharing of data, but so will the patient, providing reassurance that their clinicians have access to their most recent medical tests and encounters which in turn, helps to reduce duplicative, expensive, and at times painful tests.

As we embark on this exciting interoperability journey together, I envision a day, very soon, where every aspect of health care delivery in the local community from the physician office, to the health department, hospital, home health, behavioral health, rehab medicine and long term care facility will all be electronically connected and all components of our individual health will be available for optimal treatment and care.

CPSI is proud to be a founding member of CommonWell and a leader in this endeavor where patient information will “come together” and look forward to the positive impact that robust interoperability will have on the delivery of health care in our nation.

Hear some additional thoughts Scott shared regarding how CommonWell members have come together to deliver upon our promise of breaking down competitor silos to improve interoperability for our providers and communities.



Scott Schneider, executive vice president – CPSI, was elected to the CommonWell Health Alliance Board of Directors in October 2013.