Baxter Donates ADVOY To ATHN
At the NHF meeting in San Francisco, ATHN announced that Baxter is donating the ADVOY database system to ATHN. ADVOY is the first electronic, web-based patient bleeding and infusion diary to assist hemophilia patients and their healthcare professionals in managing their disease. ADVOY supports therapy management with secure two-way messaging between patients and their hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs).
Now affiliated with 117 HTCs across the U.S., ATHN is uniquely qualified to provide ongoing stewardship of ADVOY. With this donation, patient infusion and bleed logs will be protected and managed side-by-side with the comprehensive patient clinical information within the national information infrastructure managed and protected by ATHN. Patients and healthcare providers will be able to gather and share important treatment information and detect trends that may improve individual clinical outcomes. Baxter and ATHN are collaborating closely to ensure a smooth, seamless transition for all current and future participants of ADVOY. Once the transition is complete, the tool will be called ATHNadvoy.
“We’d like to thank Baxter for this important donation and for its continuing support of the hemophilia community,” said Diane Aschman, President and CEO of ATHN. ”By accepting this donation, ATHN builds on its commitment to create a secure information infrastructure and community resource.”
“Baxter developed ADVOY in 2001 to provide the hemophilia community with an easy-to-use, Internet based, treatment tracking tool. Members of the community were involved in the development and in ensuring the success of ADVOY," said Larry Guiheen, President, BioPharmaceuticals for Baxter's BioScience business. "We are now pleased to announce that Baxter is donating ADVOY to ATHN as a means of ensuring the continued success. Baxter remains fully committed to supporting the community, and we will collaborate closely with ATHN to ensure a smooth transition.”
“Now HTCs will have more integrated records and will benefit from a one stop for training, technical support, database security and access. Providers will be in an even better position to work together with patients to improve care. Future research studies are also expected to benefit patients and their families over the long term. This is another important step as we continue to strengthen the bridge between patients and health care providers,” Aschman added.
For protection of patient privacy, ADVOY has always been managed by an independent third-party organization. A two-step consent process that safeguards patient privacy and respects choice has been implemented to ensure patient protection during the transition of ADVOY. Both HTCs and patients will be asked to approve the move of their information to a secure site under ATHN. Beginning this month, ATHN and Baxter will deploy a variety of communications efforts, from introductory prompt screens on ADVOY to an informational web-site—www.athn.com/ATHNadvoy—to help explain the consent process details. The consent process will begin in January 2010. ATHN is committed to patient privacy protection and all ATHN policies and processes meet or exceed HIPAA privacy rules and ensure that data is used only for its intended purposes.
After the consent process and donation are complete, it will not be necessary for ADVOY users to learn a new system. ADVOY users will enjoy uninterrupted service during and after the migration to ATHN. As it has been from its conception, ADVOY will be available to all patients, regardless of the brand of clotting factor they use or where they receive care.
