IBM, Aetna Partner to Create EHR System in Puerto Rico

NEW YORK — IBM, ActiveHealth, a division of Aetna, and Puerto Rican health care IT and cloud computing company Medens announced earlier this week the launch of a joint cloud health care network in Puerto Rico.

Medens will provide a cloud computing network while IBM will contribute its interoperable HIE (health information exchange) technology. Aetna will allow doctors to access medical data through ActiveHealth CareEngine, which culls patient data from medical and pharmacy claims and lab reports.

The network will give physicians in Puerto Rico the ability to create electronic health records and access health analytics through a private cloud.

Less than 6 percent of Puerto Rican doctors use health care IT technology such as electronic health records, according to IBM.

Under the arrangement, health care software developer SOAPware will contribute its EMR+Practice Management System through the Medens cloud.

Aetna and IBM launched the Collaborative Care Solution for the Sharp Community Medical Group in San Diego last August, providing 200 primary care physicians and 500 specialists in the city access to a health IT cloud.