AMA portal partners with Michigan health exchange

Amagine Inc., the American Medical Association subsidiary that offers health information systems for physicians, has established a partnership with My One Health Information Exchange in Michigan.

Under the agreement, the six physician organizations and more than 4,000 physicians who make up the my1HIE community will have access to all the services offered on the Amagine platform.

Amagine is an online, single sign-in portal that gives physicians access to buy and use the Web-based clinical tools, such as e-prescribing, practice management and electronic medical record systems, needed to run a practice. Current Amagine members in Michigan not part of the my1HIE network will have the ability to join the health information exchange through the portal.

This is the second major initiative for Amagine in Michigan, where the platform launched in 2009. The AMA formed a collaborative partnership with the Michigan State Medical Society, which identified six physician practices to act as pilot test sites for the platform. The partnership with my1HIE will bring all the initiatives in Michigan under one umbrella.

"This relationship ultimately is a win for physicians," said Benjamin Louagie, senior director of operations and subsidiary holding at the MSMS. "It delivers excellent health IT solutions for the medical practice by combining the advantages and resources of our three organizations. Physicians also win because we've helped to cut down on the clutter and confusion in the health IT marketplace."

Amagine, developed in collaboration with the AMA's technology partner Covisint, a Compuware Corp. subsidiary based in Detroit, has signed on more than 20 technology partners to offer products and services on the Amagine platform. They include electronic medical records, diagnostic decision support tools, e-prescribing systems, practice management systems, registries, claims management tools and various communication tools that have been vetted by the AMA and found to be good solutions.

"We are thrilled to team up with my1HIE and extend Amagine's health IT solutions to more Michigan physicians," said Robert Musacchio, senior vice president of business product solutions of Amagine. "Combining Amagine's offerings with my1HIE's strong training, implementation and support services will allow us to provide physician practices with easy implementation and cost-effective solutions."

Amagine is gearing up for its national launch in the spring.