Recent news on Health Information Exchanges
ONC Farzad Mostashari, MD, is a man with a mission and stays on message. When it comes to health information exchange here is his message, “Our goal is to advance exchange as a verb to support meaningful use and improve care coordination, not to support a particular model of exchange or organization type. One of ONC’s key goals is to reduce the cost and complexity of exchange by putting in place the building-block standards, services and policies that are needed regardless of the exchange model.”
There is a lot to choose from in exchanges these days. There are statewide or community-wide networks and there are public or private exchange options now too. Chilmark Research, a health IT market research firm in Cambridge MA, estimated a 40% growth last year in the HIE market and attributing most of it to private organizations. Here is more news on what’s going on in the health information exchange market.
Honolulu, HI (July 10, 2012) – The Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange (Hawaii HIE) applauded the enactment of legislation that “harmonizes” more than 50 existing state laws related to the sharing of personal health care records. Read more from the KHIN 2 News in Hawaii or the media press release in Hawaii 24/7.
Van Wert County Hospital Goes Electronic – More west central Ohio hospitals “live” on statewide health information exchange, CliniSync. In Columbus the Van Wert County Hospital is the second hospital in the state to “go live” on the new statewide health information exchange, CliniSync. Read more about Ohio and their CiniSync exchange.
In Illinois, The Rock River Times is reporting several of the not-for-profit Catholic OSF Healthcare System Hospitals have joined the Central Illinois Health Information Exchange (CIHIE). The hospitals include OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, Rockford; OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington; OSF St. Mary Medical Center, Galesburg; OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, Ottawa; OSF Saint James — John W. Albrecht Medical Center, Pontiac; and OSF Holy Family Medical Center, Monmouth. Read the full story.
On July 5th, PA Governor signs into law, Senate Bill 8. The Act establishes the PA eHealth Partnership Authority & PA eHealth Partnership Fund to help govern the execution of the strategic plan to advance health information exchange in Pennsylvania. It also provides for consent & confidentiality of health information; & establishing civil immunity under certain circumstances.
The Collaborative has also announced an innovative new grant program to encourage doctors and other health care providers to begin securely exchanging health information over the Internet using DIRECT messaging. As many as 8000 providers could potentially take advantage of the program.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting, Hospital health exchange goes live – Doctors region-wide begin sharing data. In Pennsylvania, at least six separate HIEs are now being built by hospital network coalitions, health insurers and private tech companies. Within a year or two, all of those exchanges should be able to communicate to one another, allowing physicians participating in, say, the ClinicalConnect HIE to pull patient records from the Geisinger-led Keystone Health Information Exchange, operating out of Pennsylvania’s midstate and northeastern counties. Read the Post-Gazette article by Bill Toland.
Nashville, TN (July 9, 2012) – Health Information Partnership for Tennessee (HIP TN), an organization created three years ago by providers, payers, consumers and other stakeholders to assist Tennessee in creating a statewide health information exchange (HIE), is planning to wind down operations. The HIP TN Board voted on June 15 to begin wind down activities after meeting with state officials. Read more of the HIP TN press release.