Nationwide Health Information Network Comes of Age

Healtheway to support eHealth Exchange

By Brian Ahier, Healthcare, Technology& Government 2.0

The Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange (NwHIN Exchange, or just Exchange) has been operating as an ONC program since 2007. For the past three years, a rapidly growing community of public and private organizations (Exchange Participants) has been routinely sharing information in production. That community now represents thousands of providers and millions of patients. Healtheway is new a non-profit, public-private partnership that will operationally support the eHealth Exchange (formerly referred to as the NwHIN Exchange).

On August 1, 2012, the Exchange Coordinating Committee appointed three representatives to serve on the Healtheway Board of Directors, including: Michael Matthews (CEO, MedVirginia), Paul Matthews (CTO, OCHIN) and Jan Root (CEO, Utah Health Information Network). These individuals, along with Healtheway’s Interim Executive Director, Mariann Yeager, will serve as the initial board of directors for the non-profit. The remaining Healtheway board seats will be filled by up to nine elected Healtheway members. The company launched its Member Program in August 2012, with elections for the member board seats expected in the Fall 2012.

“Transitioning the eHealth Exchange from a federal program initiative to a sustainable public-private endeavor marks a significant milepost for HIE in the U.S. The eHealth Exchange is demonstrating that secure, trusted and interoperable health information exchange on a nationwide scale is viable. As we look forward, we realize that success will only be possible through active collaboration with our public and private partners and with industry to shepherd nationwide HIE in the US to its full potential,” said Mariann Yeager, Interim Executive Director of Healtheway.

In order to foster continued growth and advancement, there is a common goal to…

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