CORHIO, the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization, announced that as a result of Exempla Healthcare signing a contract to participate in its health information exchange (HIE), all Colorado hospitals with more than 100 licensed beds have connected or are in the process to connect to an HIE network. Exempla Healthcare, an affiliate of SCL Health System, operates three hospitals in Colorado: Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge and Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver. All three will connect to the CORHIO HIE as a result of the agreement. SCL Health System also operates St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in Grand Junction, which is connected to the Quality Health Network (QHN) HIE.
Twenty-nine hospitals are connected to the CORHIO HIE and 15 more are in process to connect—a total of 44 hospitals in all. In addition to hospitals, there are more than 1,800 office-based physicians, 100 long-term and post-acute care facilities, 13 behavioral health centers and five national/regional medical laboratories either connected or in process to connect to the CORHIO HIE. QHN, based out of Grand Junction and serving the Western Slope, has a total of 11 hospitals connected and two in process to connect.
There are 78 hospitals in Colorado, of which 61 are located within CORHIO’s service area. CORHIO is committed to working with all the hospitals in its region, some of which are located in rural areas of the state, to ensure they are able to participate in HIE in a cost-effective way. CORHIO has partnered with the Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) on this effort.
Hospitals that connect their electronic health record (EHR) systems with CORHIO’s HIE ensure that their patients receive better follow-up care with their primary care doctors or any other community-based health care providers they choose to visit that are also part of the CORHIO network.
Hospitals participating in the CORHIO HIE share vital patient information, such as hospital discharge notifications, lab test results, x-ray, MRI and other imaging reports and physician transcription reports, with community-based providers across the state. This ultimately results in patients getting more appropriate treatment, recovering from illnesses and surgeries more quickly and being healthier overall.