BOISE, Idaho – July 11, 2017 – Kno2™, the company that optimizes patient document exchange for everyone in healthcare, today announced that Alan Swenson, a highly respected leader in interoperability who has worked extensively with Kno2’s leadership team for several years, has joined the company as director of interoperability.
Mr. Swenson will leverage his experience connecting large hospitals and health systems to other providers throughout the care continuum – including long-term post-acute care (LTPAC), behavioral health, emergency medical services and more – to help them benefit from greater interoperability through Kno2’s data exchange platform. In addition to overseeing specific interoperability projects for Kno2, Mr. Swenson will also make his expertise available to assist clients, such as EMR/EHR vendors, who are in the process of using Kno2 to develop their interoperability vision and roadmap. Additionally, he will support the ongoing evolution of Kno2’s innovative technology to address the ever-changing needs and requirements of providers, further empowering organizations to provide the highest quality of care.
As part of his new role, Mr. Swenson will actively represent Kno2 in industry-wide interoperability initiatives. He has participated in various panels and workgroups, including the Carequality Authorization Workgroup, which created the technical specification for a framework for cross-vendor patient authorization collection. His credentials also include participating in a 24-member interoperability panel coordinated by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the direction of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Its purpose is to define new standard metrics measuring the adoption and effect of interoperability on healthcare.
“My goal is to drive the healthcare industry toward standardization in interoperability and realize tangible improvements in care delivery,” said Mr. Swenson. “Although there is much talk about patient-centered care, this requires that all providers within a patient’s journey have access to that individual’s care information. Yet many provider organizations, especially those that were not part of the financial incentive programs for EHR adoption, still lack a seamless, secure method of exchanging patient data. Kno2’s cost-effective, scalable patient document exchange platform is exactly what’s needed to bring those late adopters into the fold, enabling interoperability to be achieved throughout the continuum of care.”
Mr. Swenson comes to Kno2 after six years of working in interoperability technical services at Epic. During that time, he worked with hundreds of healthcare systems, helping them provide their clinicians with a fully integrated interoperability solution to access patient records from outside organizations. Among his accomplishments was transforming patient consent models to remove barriers in sharing patient information. In four years, this work led to a 63 percent decrease in the number of Epic organizations requiring additional patient consent for record exchange. Additionally, Mr. Swenson was Epic’s lead in the Carequality integration initiative, where he oversaw the company’s development and support for the Carequality framework and communications with Epic customers. Early in his career at Epic, he also served as a technical coordinator, managing the support of all Epic software applications for a large healthcare organization.
Added Swenson, “My vision is that some day, interoperability won’t be a thing we talk about – or think about – anymore. It will be just the way things work.”
“Landing another seasoned interoperability professional with an extensive track record is a real win for Kno2 and will serve to further strengthen our market leadership and our impact on broadscale interoperability,” said Therasa Bell, President and CTO of Kno2. “Alan’s work with Epic, as well as with workgroups and panels that are setting the standards for secure electronic patient document exchange, give him a unique understanding of the underlying factors that will determine the success of interoperability initiatives in the future. We are excited that he is bringing his knowledge and passion for interoperability to the team as we continue to empower our clients to solve their greatest challenges in delivering affordable, high quality care.”
