FRAMINGHAM (03/23/2004) - Kryptiq Corp., a provider of workflow connectivity technology for healthcare, announced Monday it has joined the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Partners for Patients program as a "declaration of support" member, according to David C. Kibbe, director of the AAFP Center for Health Information Technology.
The declaration of support means members back the program's four principles: affordability, compatibility, interoperability, and data stewardship. The program was created so more vendors could participate in the Partners for Patients initiative founded by 10 companies in November. However, the declaration is less structured and secondary to the original Partners for Patients initiative.
Either way, Partners for Patients aims to make technology more affordable and accessible to the AAFP's 94,000-physician membership. The founding members include A4 Health Systems, GE Healthcare, MedPlexus Inc., NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Physician Micro Systems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., MedPlus, Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services, SureScripts, and Welch Allyn Inc. Separate from the founding members, the number of companies declaring support for Partners for Patients is approaching 25, according to Kibbe.
AAFP spokeswoman Jana De Valle conceded the two programs are somewhat "confusing."
Kryptiq joined the program "because of the opportunity to support standards focused on improving connectivity and interoperability in healthcare," said Tyler Blitz, Kryptiq's director of product marketing. Blitz also said that Kryptiq is fully behind proposed standards, such as the Continuity of Care Record.
With "vendor solutions running independently of one another, interoperability standards are needed to allow information to move from one system to another to import and export data (in a structured way) and exchange that information with physicians using disparate systems," said Blitz. He added that Kryptiq technology, focused on integrating practice management systems and electronic medical records, along with a secure messaging platform to integrate with patient portals, can help support physician and patient connectivity.
Blitz said he would like there to be ongoing interaction among Partners for Patients founding and support members to further interoperability.
Technology provided by support vendors is not available to AAFP members at the discounts of 15 percent to 50 percent they get on products from founding members, although some support companies are starting to offer discounts, Kibbe said.
The next step for Partners for Patients, according to Kibbe, is to continue correspondence with the program's founding companies to work on technology, interoperability, and standards issues. Kibbe said two main focus areas are promoting the adoption of electronic medical records in small and medium-size practices and work on specific issues and problems that will put technology adoption principles into place, such as interfaces, guidelines, and business practices.