About Us

Wellport is one of the nation’s first community-based and community-wide electronic health information networks. This means that independently practicing physicians and physicians at the Anna Jaques Hospital are now going to be linked together to create a more integrated healthcare community. By making reliable and timely data available to both physicians and patients, Wellport hopes to achieve significant improvements in the quality, safety and efficiency of your healthcare.

Over the past 3 years electronic health records have been established in approximately 95% of physician offices and an electronic health information exchange has been created. With patient consent, a “shared health summary” will be extracted automatically from any electronic record where information resides and is stored in a secure, encrypted central database. Thus, when patients go from one provider to another, their important medical information will be available. In addition providers will be able to electronically pass information (when authorized and when necessary) to other providers making consultation and communication quicker and more efficient.

Over the next several months, patients will be able to access their own personal health record at home. MyWellport, Wellport’s personal health record, will allow patients access to their important medical information from their personal computer and will also permit secure electronic communication between physicians and their patients.

Wellport is a subsidiary of the Lower Merrimac Valley Physician Hospital Organization (LMVPHO) which has been created to supervise, monitor, and sustain the newly deployed health information exchange and to ensure that the exchange serves the community and its patients.

In 2004 the insurance industry, the academic medical centers, the Mass. Medical Society, the state government, and representatives of the business community came together to create the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative. Funded by a 50 million dollar grant by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the eHealth Collaborative was mandated to choose 3 pilot communities, deploy electronic health records in the offices of physicians in those communities and create an electronic health information exchange in each of the three communities. Thirty-five communities applied and, after a very rigorous application process, Greater Newburyport was chosen to be one of the pilot communities primarily because of the clear commitment to the project made by the Anna Jaques Hospital and the local physician community.

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Acknowledgments

 

Wellport

The Lower Merrimac Valley Physician Hospital Organization (LMVPHO) has created a subsidiary organization called Wellport. It was organized to oversee and manage the Community Health Information Network.

We are indebted to the many people who have contributed to the success of the project to date.

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Wellport Committees/Councils/Groups

Wellport Steering Committee

(The Local Project Steering Committee)

Members:

Whittier IPA/LMVPHO/Wellport
Kevin Lanphear, DO
President
Matt Whalen
Executive Director
Michele Riopel, RN
Community eHealth Liaison
Robert Buchanan
CTO, AJH
Joe Heyman, MD
Annette Fotino
Administrative Assistant

Wellport CNO Planning Group

Members:

Whittier IPA/LMVPHO/Wellport
Kevin Lanphear, DO
President
Matt Whalen
Executive Director
Michele Riopel, RN
Community eHealth Liaison
Joe Heyman, MD

 

Wellport Policy & Procedure and Privacy & Security Committee

Members:

Whittier IPA/LMVPHO/Wellport
Matt Whalen
Executive Director
Michele Riopel, RN
Community eHealth Liaison
Robert Buchanan
CTO, AJH
Kevin Lanphear, DO
President
Doreen Fay, Ed.D
Community Member
Louis Rubenfeld
Community Member
John Nestor, PhD
Joe Heyman, MD
Maria Palumbo
Director Medical Records
Nancy Spaulding
Information Technology Technician, AJH
Ruth Pothier
CIO, Pentucket Medical Associates

 

Wellport Community Council

Members:

Whittier IPA/LMVPHO/Wellport
Kevin Lanphear, DO
President
Matt Whalen
Executive Director
Michele Riopel, RN
Community eHealth Liaison
Joe Heyman, MD
Mark Goldstein
VP Finance, CFO, AJH
Becky Vigneault, RN
Preoperative Area, AJH
Wesley Barry
Community Member
Tara Clifford
Program Coordinator, Pettengill House
Nicholas Costello
Executive Director, Link House Inc.
Doreen Fay, Ed.D
Community Member
Lisa Fenichel
eHealth Consumer Advocate, HealthCare For All
Donna Holaday
Director of Grants, Middlesex Public Library
Dorothy LaFrance
Head Librarian, Newburyport Public Library
Mark Miller
Owner, Blue Water Café & No. Shore Restaurant
Tom Pendergast
GM, Bartley Machine
Louis Rubenfeld
Community Member
Ruth Pothier
CIO, Pentucket Medical Associates
Allan DesRosiers
Former CEO, AJH
Robert Buchanan
CTO,AJH
Mark Wright
VP, Provident Bank
Stephanie McCowan
Exectuive Director, Amesbury Chamber of Commerece
Gunter Waehling
Katie Schutz
Quality & Utilization Coordinator
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Copyright 2009 Wellport Electronic Health Network. All rights reserved.