Indiana and Ohio Establish Interstate Partnership to Exchange Health Data

HCC-IHIEReid Hospital patients seeking care in Ohio benefit from increased access to their medical records, faster communication, and better quality of care

Healthcare in the real world doesn’t stop at the state line. Indiana and Ohio, through two of the nation’s largest health information exchanges, are demonstrating the ability to follow the footprint of the patient across the region through the digital exchange of information across communities, states and technology systems.

Since September 2009, IHIE has sent clinical results to Health Bridge, a service line of The Health Collaborative, for delivery to their physicians. This information is provided when their patients seek care at locations in Indiana. It includes dozens of separate data feeds, so that lab and radiology results, for example, and other clinical reports and summaries are provided to these ordering physicians in a timely and standardized way.

Now, The Health Collaborative is providing this information to physicians practicing at Reid Health in Richmond, Indiana who have patients that seek care within Ohio. Reid Hospital serves approximately 280,000 patients from eastern Indiana and western Ohio, including through locations in three Ohio counties and six Indiana counties.

“Reid Health is committed to providing world-class care to patients, and part of that commitment includes utilizing the latest technologies to support the care we provide,” said Craig Kinyon, President and CEO of Reid Health. “Our partnership with IHIE and The Health Collaborative has seamlessly integrated the data so that it is immediately available and highly usable to our physicians.”

The information is fed directly into Reid Health’s electronic medical record system, NextGen.

Establishing interoperability between health information exchange organizations, such as IHIE and The Health Collaborative, is unique. Adding in the capability of the HIEs to ‘talk’ to EMR systems clearly adds value by providing the data directly to the provider in their existing workflow.

Craig Brammer, CEO of The Health Collaborative said, “No other region in this country can provide the depth of data exchange and the two-way flow of information that we have accomplished here.” He added, “This collaboration provides a real world example of a bold vision for connecting healthcare not just in this region but across the nation.”

This collaboration also has the potential to expand to other hospitals and networks throughout the region.

“All healthcare information should follow the patient,” added John P. Kansky, CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. “We are proud to have these partners in preserving the confidence, trust and integrity of the data so that patients receive the best care possible.”

About the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE)
IHIE operates the nation’s largest health information exchange, providing a secure, robust and interoperable health information technology network that connects over 100 hospitals, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, community health clinics and other healthcare providers. IHIE provides the nation’s largest implementation of clinical results delivery (DOCS4DOCS® Service). The organization supports the Indiana Network for Patient Care, a clinical data repository accessed via IHIE’s CareWeb application. IHIE also provides Public Health, Transitions of Care and Population Health Support Services. www.ihie.org

About The Health Collaborative:
The Health Collaborative is a non-profit organization based in Cincinnati that strives to positively impact health status, experience, outcomes, and affordability by fostering a connected system of healthcare and community health through innovation, integration, and informatics in the Greater Cincinnati region and beyond. For more information about the Health Collaborative, visit this website.

About Reid Health:
Reid Health is a not-for-profit regional system serving East Central Indiana and West Central Ohio, with more than 40 locations in nine counties. The system is one of the region’s largest employers, and has regularly received national recognition for quality of services and technology.