3 dental schools join new EHR agreement

Internet2 and ICE Health Systems (ICE) have signed an agreement that will enable universities within the Internet2 research and education community to enjoy preferred pricing, influence the electronic health record (EHR) requirements for their schools, and participate with other schools on optimal configuration, experiences, data sharing, and other projects. This also means that ICE has been identified as the first EHR provider for dental schools in the Internet2 NET+ Portfolio.

Participating dental schools include the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.

The NET+ ICE Health Systems service is the result of a two-year collaboration, the first across the U.S., to attempt to solve the numerous challenges associated with patient information/EHRs in a cloud-based environment. The three dental schools teamed up with ICE Health Systems under the NET+ Program to articulate and define an EHR for dental schools that will serve as a model to improve patient outcomes and support research first in oral health and then eventually in all of health.

The three universities are serving as the founding collaborators and will be the first to launch ICE through the Internet2 NET+ program over the coming months. These schools have been working closely with ICE and Internet2 to understand and coordinate their requirements and review the system enhancements for their needs and the needs of the greater higher education community.

"We at ICE are very excited to partner with Internet2 and the university sponsors on this electronic health record project," stated Mark Genuis, PhD, CEO of ICE, in a press release. "Our goal at ICE is to contribute to the profession by providing an EHR to support excellence in the delivery of interdisciplinary healthcare, research, and communication. Internet2 and the dental school leadership involved are well-positioned to turn this vision into reality. We are grateful and look forward to contributing to and working together within the community."