Redwood MedNet :: Clinical Results Delivery Service

What Is Clinical Messaging?
A clinical message service provides a secure, electronic infrastructure to automate the delivery of health data to any site where clinical patient care decisions are made. For example, a clinical message service can automate result reporting from a laboratory to a clinic (i.e., replace a fax or other printed result with an electronic file). A clinical message service can also enable secure electronic forwarding of consultation reports between clinicians to facilitate patient care. Many urban health care communities across the country have active clinical messaging services (e.g., Cincinnati, Indianapolis, suburban New York city, etc.). Generally, these clinical messaging environments are accompanied by large hospitals (i.e., over 500 beds), robust IPAs (i.e., thousands of physician members) and group practices with hundreds of providers. That is, clinical messaging services thrive in densely populated areas with a robust health care system.

Knowing the above, is it practical to operate a clinical message service in a thinly populated rural region like Mendocino?

Clinical Messaging for the Mendocino Region
In July 2005 Redwood MedNet was formed as a new nonprofit organization. A primary goal of the new organization was to build a clinical message service for the Mendocino region. Redwood MedNet proposed the following minimum technology requirements for participation by any local medical practice in a community clinical message service:

1. An Internet connection

2. A standard web browser

3. The ability to print pages from a web site

With this approach, clinical practices meeting the above requirements would incur no direct software or message transaction costs to participate in the start up phase of a Redwood MedNet clinical message service. However, participating practices would have to invest some staff time planning their implementation of the message service.

Redwood MedNet Results Delivery Service Timeline
NOVEMBER 2004 -- Carl Henning, M.D., and Will Ross proposed a community clinical message service to the medical staff at Ukiah Valley Medical Center.

OCTOBER 2005 -- Redwood MedNet received a grant from the Blue Shield of California Foundation to conduct a pilot test of a clinical message service in the Mendocino County region. The clinical message project is managed by Mendocino Informatics.

JANUARY 2006 -- Redwood MedNet conducted a Physician Technology Survey, supported by the Foundation for Medical Care. The survey was mailed to all 200 physicians in Lake and Mendocino counties. In response to the final question on the survey, twenty-five physicians volunteered to participate in the proposed clinical message service.

MAY 2006 -- Redwood MedNet Director Will Ross resigned from the Board to avoid a conflict of interest with his role as Project Manager on the deployment and business operations startup of the clinical results delivery service funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

JULY 2006 -- Redwood MedNet selected a clinical messaging software solution in an RFP process that drew bids from six vendors of clinical messaging software.

JANUARY 2007 -- Redwood MedNet signed an agreement with Quest Diagnostics to enable a new clinical message service to deliver lab test results from Quest to local medical practices.

FEBRUARY 2007 -- Redwood MedNet selected the Mirth Project, an open source HL7 Integration Engine for use across the clinical messaging infrastructure.

APRIL 2007 -- Test delivery of lab results began from the pilot laboratory site at Healdsburg District Hospital to the pilot clinic site at Alliance Medical Center, an FQHC in Healdsburg.

JULY 2007 -- Carl Henning, M.D., President of Redwood MedNet, presents a first public demonstration of the alpha version of the Redwood MedNet clinical messaging service.

OCTOBER 2007 -- Planning discussions began with Ukiah Valley Medical Center to deliver results from their laboratory via the Redwood MedNet service.

NOVEMBER 2007 -- Redwood MedNet conducts successful 1,000 unit test of the clinical messaging service.

APRIL 2008 -- Redwood MedNet results delivery service released to production at Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg, at a volume of approximately 1,600 lab tests per month.

JULY 2008 -- Carl Henning, M.D., President of Redwood MedNet, presents a public demonstration of the beta version of the Redwood MedNet laboratory results delivery service.


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	Clinical Results Delivery Service What Is Clinical Messaging? Clinical Messaging for Mendocino Redwood MedNet Launches a Results Delivery Service Project Archive What Is Clinical Messaging? A clinical message service provides a secure, electronic infrastructure to automate the delivery of health data to any site where clinical patient care decisions are made. For example, a clinical message service can automate result reporting from a laboratory to a clinic (i.e., replace a fax or other printed result with an electronic file). A clinical message service can also enable secure electronic forwarding of consultation reports between clinicians to facilitate patient care. Many urban health care communities across the country have active clinical messaging services (e.g., Cincinnati, Indianapolis, suburban New York city, etc.). Generally, these clinical messaging environments are accompanied by large hospitals (i.e., over 500 beds), robust IPAs (i.e., thousands of physician members) and group practices with hundreds of providers. That is, clinical messaging services thrive in densely populated areas with a robust health care system. Knowing the above, is it practical to operate a clinical message service in a thinly populated rural region like Mendocino? Top of Page Clinical Messaging for the Mendocino Region In July 2005 Redwood MedNet was formed as a new nonprofit organization. A primary goal of the new organization was to build a clinical message service for the Mendocino region. Redwood MedNet proposed the following minimum technology requirements for participation by any local medical practice in a community clinical message service: 1. An Internet connection 2. A standard web browser 3. The ability to print pages from a web site With this approach, clinical practices meeting the above requirements would incur no direct software or message transaction costs to participate in the start up phase of a Redwood MedNet clinical message service. However, participating practices would have to invest some staff time planning their implementation of the message service. Top of Page Redwood MedNet Results Delivery Service Timeline NOVEMBER 2004 -- Carl Henning, M.D., and Will Ross proposed a community clinical message service to the medical staff at Ukiah Valley Medical Center. OCTOBER 2005 -- Redwood MedNet received a grant from the Blue Shield of California Foundation to conduct a pilot test of a clinical message service in the Mendocino County region. The clinical message project is managed by Mendocino Informatics. JANUARY 2006 -- Redwood MedNet conducted a Physician Technology Survey, supported by the Foundation for Medical Care. The survey was mailed to all 200 physicians in Lake and Mendocino counties. In response to the final question on the survey, twenty-five physicians volunteered to participate in the proposed clinical message service. MAY 2006 -- Redwood MedNet Director Will Ross resigned from the Board to avoid a conflict of interest with his role as Project Manager on the deployment and business operations startup of the clinical results delivery service funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation. JULY 2006 -- Redwood MedNet selected a clinical messaging software solution in an RFP process that drew bids from six vendors of clinical messaging software. JANUARY 2007 -- Redwood MedNet signed an agreement with Quest Diagnostics to enable a new clinical message service to deliver lab test results from Quest to local medical practices. FEBRUARY 2007 -- Redwood MedNet selected the Mirth Project, an open source HL7 Integration Engine for use across the clinical messaging infrastructure. APRIL 2007 -- Test delivery of lab results began from the pilot laboratory site at Healdsburg District Hospital to the pilot clinic site at Alliance Medical Center, an FQHC in Healdsburg. JULY 2007 -- Carl Henning, M.D., President of Redwood MedNet, presents a first public demonstration of the alpha version of the Redwood MedNet clinical messaging service. OCTOBER 2007 -- Planning discussions began with Ukiah Valley Medical Center to deliver results from their laboratory via the Redwood MedNet service. NOVEMBER 2007 -- Redwood MedNet conducts successful 1,000 unit test of the clinical messaging service. APRIL 2008 -- Redwood MedNet results delivery service released to production at Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg, at a volume of approximately 1,600 lab tests per month. JULY 2008 -- Carl Henning, M.D., President of Redwood MedNet, presents a public demonstration of the beta version of the Redwood MedNet laboratory results delivery service.

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