Merge Healthcare Partners With Emdeon

February 12, 2015 — Merge Healthcare Incorporated announced a strategic collaboration with Emdeon, a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions.

Emdeon Clinical Exchange customers will now have the ability to send electronic referrals and receive radiology reports from Merge iConnect Network users.

Through the partnership, hospitals and imaging centers on the Merge iConnect Network will be able to electronically receive and transmit imaging orders and results to Emdeon's network of providers. Because the workflow will be automated through the provider's electronic health record (EHR), the entire process of imaging orders and results management becomes streamlined. By helping to eliminate the challenges associated with current paper-based processes, this expanded connectivity makes it easier to do business with participating imaging providers.

"Given the ongoing changes in the healthcare industry, we anticipated that our customers would be seeking an advancement with patient referrals and found that connecting with a partner like Emdeon would improve provider access to imaging data enabling increased care quality," said Justin Dearborn, chief executive officer at Merge.

"Physicians are often faced with the task of pulling a handful of images from an archive of billions within a PACS system in order to make an informed care decision. Not only is this process cumbersome on staff, but it may delay the patient's diagnosis," said Tom McEnery, chief strategic marketing officer at Emdeon. "The partnership with Merge will help our providers get the critical information they need, when they need it, allowing them to diagnose patients more effectively."

Referring physicians will also have the capability to follow their patients' care post-referral. This tracking is necessary for those organizations participating in shared-savings programs, where the variability in care must be more tightly managed.

For more information: www.merge.com/iConnectNetwork