The eHealth Exchange (@eHealthExchange), a health information networks connecting federal agencies and providers, announced the launch of the eHealth Exchange Innovation Grant. The program seeks to award as much as $550,000 in grants and other incentives to organizations pursuing innovative ways to increase exchange of electronic health information (EHI) or establish new technical advancements in connectivity, all in support of patients and their providers.
“We’ve reached a tipping point as a health network and as a nation,” explained Jay Nakashima, eHealth Exchange executive director. “We’ve implemented the infrastructure for secure electronic health information exchange and achieved an impressive level of comfort and expectation for certain types of exchange. But as a country, we can do much more to improve patient care. The eHealth Exchange sees so much potential to leverage the existing connectivity to improve the patient and provider experience, as well as to enhance health outcomes.”
The non-profit health information network is optimistic its public-benefit grant program will encourage innovation in how health information is exchanged and used. Grant applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that might increase exchange by leveraging HL7® Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) or other eHealth Exchange technical specifications. Grant awardees will be responsible for producing an implementation guide for the project that will benefit the broader community of eHealth Exchange and its participants. All proposals should provide implementation, testing, and production details.
The eHealth Exchange Innovation Grant is open to eHealth Exchange participants and any eHealth Exchange eligible applicants. Organizations may team for a multi-organizational application. eHealth Exchange anticipates that as many as three awards of as much as $100,000 each will be made in the form of a milestone driven grant for one year. Successful grantees will receive a credit for eHealth Exchange participation fees previously paid in 2021 (if any) and may have fees waived in 2022, provided that the solution is fully operational in production. eHealth Exchange expects to perform significant technical coordination and testing throughout the project.
To learn more about the eHealth Exchange Grant and apply, visit the eHealth Exchange website.
About the eHealth Exchange
The eHealth Exchange, a 501(c)3 non-profit, is among the oldest and largest health information networks in America and is most well-known as the principal way the federal government shares data between agencies and with the private sector. The eHealth Exchange network, which is working in 75 percent of all U.S. hospitals, is leveraged by more than 30 electronic health record (EHR) technologies and 61 regional and state health information exchanges (HIEs). Four federal agencies (Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Social Security Administration) participate in the network to share patient information with private sector partners as well as with other agencies. In all, the eHealth Exchange supports the secure exchange of the records of more than 120 million patients.