Texas Children's Hospital is the first pediatric institution in the nation to utilize the National Renal Administrators Association Health Information Exchange

HOUSTON - (May 23, 2013) - Renal Services Exchange, a subsidiary of the National Renal Administrators Association (NRAA), is proud to announce that Texas Children's Hospital in Houston is the first children's hospital in the country to go into production on the NRAA Health Information Exchange (HIE). This is an important technological advance that will assist Texas Children's in providing detailed patient level clinical information to the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS). The Consolidated Renal Operations in a web-enabled Network (CROWNWeb) data being provided to CMS will be used to assess the quality of care for the kidney dialysis services that are being provided to the patients at the hospital.


The NRAA HIE is the first such connection to Medicare in the country and one of only two HIEs that are currently connected to Medicare. Texas Children's is one of the first large integrated delivery systems in the country to become part of this innovative system and this is a milestone for all of the organizations that are involved.


Marc Chow, executive director for the NRAA and Renal Services Exchange, stated that "Texas Children's Hospital is a leader among its peers in providing children with kidney treatments and their use of the HIE is yet another way that they are demonstrating their innovative and visionary leadership."


The NRAA HIE currently spans the entire country and works with more than 800 dialysis facilities to exchange the detailed information with Medicare across the nation-wide Health Information Network (NwHIN).


"Our connection to the NRAA HIE will enable us to submit data in near real-time to Medicare and provide a long-term way to analyze how the quality of care to our patients compares to similar organizations," said Helen Currier, director of Renal Services at Texas Children's Hospital. "We are excited to review the quality of care data that Medicare will be generating and use this information to further improve the services we offer to our children that have been struck by severe kidney disease. The future of medicine involves sharing clinical data across settings and then using this knowledge to innovate and provide even higher quality care at a lower cost. The use of the NRAA HIE is a first and we are all very excited about the possibilities that this will bring to us in the future."


Texas Children's Hospital is a full service children's oriented hospital and is one of the largest providers of care for chronic kidney disease in children in the country. To learn more about Texas Children's kidney services visit texaschildrens.org.


The NRAA HIE currently has over 800 participating dialysis facilities representing more than 70,000 patients across the county. To find out more about the HIE project or the other innovative ideas that the NRAA is working on, visit the website at nraa.org/.

About Texas Children’s Hospital

Texas Children’s Hospital, a not-for-profit health care organization, is committed to creating a healthier future for children and women throughout the global community by leading in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked as the best children’s hospital in Texas, and among the top in the nation, Texas Children’s has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health. The hospital includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; the Feigin Center for pediatric research; Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston; and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, a second community hospital planned to open in 2017. The organization also created the nation’s first HMO for children, has the largest pediatric primary care network in the country and a global health program that’s channeling care to children and women all over the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news by visiting the online newsroom and Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.