The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) created the Health Care Innovations Exchange to speed the implementation of new and better ways of delivering health care. The Innovations Exchange supports the Agency's mission to improve the quality of health care and reduce disparities. The AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange offers busy health professionals and researchers a variety of opportunities to share, learn about, and ultimately adopt evidence-based innovations and tools suitable for a range of health care settings and populations.

More info at: http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/about.aspx

In July of 2011, the AHRQ Innovation Exchange published a profile of one of SHIP's projects, ExpectED. The profile was entitled "Referring Physicians Send Electronic Handoff Note With Pertinent Patient Information to Emergency Department, Improving Physician Efficiency and Quality of Care"; the summary follows:                                                                                               Community-based physicians referring patients to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for emergency care send an electronic handoff note to emergency department personnel to notify them that a patient will be arriving and to provide clinical details pertinent to his or her condition. The note, which includes the patient's name, date of birth, the referring physician's name, a clinical summary, and other information, is entered into the system's electronic medical record, where emergency department clinicians can easily access and review it at the point of care. Anecdotal feedback from physicians suggests that the program has improved physician efficiency and satisfaction, care coordination, and the quality and timeliness of care. 

Complete information can be found at: http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=3107 

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