KC CareLink - A Health Information Exchange

What KC CareLink Offers | Overview

The KC CareLink system performs a vital service for the region’s safety net providers.

Master Patient Registry

The foundation of KC CareLink is a master patient registry with demographic information on over 185,000 unduplicated patients from throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. The demographic information is refreshed daily.

Referral Package

The KC CareLink referral application was designed so that health care providers can have information when and where it’s needed. The referral is a standardized electronic package containing patient demographic information, diagnosis, relevant medical information, and contact information. Information such as laboratory results, medications, and medical history are sent through the electronic document management system so that they are permanently available with the referral. Health care providers and their staff communicate efficiently and effectively using the message board that is encrypted and embedded within a referral. Thousands of referrals are being made through KC CareLink each month.

The value to the staff is an organized, consistent and efficient process that allows them to help the patient and provider while it makes their work more satisfying.

The value to the provider is having legible, complete information available at the point of care.

The value to the patient is dramatically enhanced continuity of care.

Custom Applications

Custom applications have been built on the robust KC CareLink master patient registry and referral applications. Custom applications have given subsets of providers the ability to create and track pharmacy and laboratory vouchers, request a check of a person’s eligibility for government programs such as Medicaid, and make referrals to specialty care programs. Additional custom applications are constantly under consideration.

Clinical and Administrative Reports

Using KC CareLink, safety net providers can generate custom reports to help manage their clinical practices, analyze trends and work flow, and compile data for funders, grant applications and reports.

Generation Two

With the success of KC CareLink have come requests for more functionality and broader use. So, KC CareLink is responding by researching other systems that are being used around the country, talking with health information technology and exchange experts as well as our current and potential users. The result will be KC CareLink Generation Two, which we would like to have available in the next eighteen months.