Game-Changer: ED Care Coordination arrives in Virginia

Meet the "Game-Changer" EDie

EDie implementation completed across 22 Virginia health systems this week

This week, emergency medicine takes a major step forward in Virginia as the long-awaited Emergency Department Care Coordination (EDCC) Program is implemented across health systems statewide. The central component of the program, led by the Virginia Department of Health (with leadership from VACEP), is the addition of the Emergency Department Information Exchange, or EDie, into your EHR system.

EDie (pronounced "Eddie") has been described as a “game-changer” by ACEP leaders and public health officials from states that have already implemented it. The process was developed by ACEP-endorsed Collective Medical .

Virginia’s EDie will facilitate greater communication among both emergency and non-emergent providers and care groups with the goals of improving patient care and reducing costs. The EDie plugs directly into your existing EHR workflow.

EDie will be up and running across all of the Commonwealth’s 22 health systems by Saturday. As of last week, seven systems are live as are all six Virginia Medicaid MCOs.

The benefits of EDie to emergency physicians

Through a new EDie alert on your EHR, you will immediately identify high-utilizer patients, prescription “shoppers,” and those with complex needs. If there have been previous security events or there is presence of a patient care plan, the EDie will tell you.

EDie Notification Criteria

Five visits in 12 months
Three different facilities in 90 days
Care plans, if available
Security alerts
Advance directives

If one of these alerts appear, the PMP NarxCare Risk Score will populate.

The EDie improves the ability to more collaboratively review patient cases with other emergency departments and physicians, non-M.D. providers, and clinical and care management personnel across Virginia.

The current EDie shows the NarxCare Risk Score. The Virginia Department of Health expects to fully incorporate Virginia’s Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) into EDie by August 15, allowing you to access the PMP without additional log-ins.

Non-emergent providers, including primary care, specialty care, behavioral health, post-acute care and community health organizations — as well as Medicare and commercial payers — will join the network over the next 12 to 24 months.

Anticipated Outcomes

In states where EDie has been implemented, emergency departments have reduced the number of costly and time-consuming tests required to diagnose patients. EDie has also reduced the number of ED visits by high-utilizer Medicaid patients up to 11 percent and those with low-acuity diagnosis by 14 percent.

EDie Q&A

Earlier this year, Virginia ACEP interviewed Steve Anderson, M.D. , past-president of the state of Washington State ACEP. Washington was the first state to implement EDie , which was done under Dr. Anderson’s leadership. In our interview , Dr. Anderson talks the strengths, challenges, and future versions of the system. It’s good insight into what Virginia can expect.

Read Dr. Anderson's interview

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EDie Intro Video

Collective Medical has created a helpful, 4-minute video overview of the EDie system. You'll need a password to view it (shh...don't tell). It's 949319.

Watch the Video.

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Questions about EDie?

VACEP and our lobbyist, Aimee Perron Seibert, were instrumental in bringing EDie to Virginia. If you have questions, we have the experts and resources to help you fully embrace EDie into your workflow and provide even better patient care.

Contact VACEP

Top photo: VACEP President Bruce Lo, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam...also an M.D.