In response to the need for increased sharing of time-sensitive health information during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, The Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) (@UHIN_HIE) is sending COVID-19 lab result alerts from hospitals directly to healthcare providers, ACOs and care managers in and around the state of Utah. These alerts will be available at no cost to physicians and care teams during the crisis and current CHIE users will incur no additional costs for Lab Result Alerts.
Utah hospitals, medical centers and labs are sending notifications of hospitalizations, ED visits, and COVID-19 lab orders and diagnoses through UHIN to other healthcare organizations. These alerts allow care teams to coordinate interventions more effectively for their patients, especially those in greater need of physician oversight. Care teams will also be able to see all observations and lab results that are part of a SARS-CoV-2 test order.
“Care teams and physicians need to be notified immediately when one of their patients has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 to ensure the patient is being cared for in the appropriate setting,” said Dr. Matt Hoffman, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at UHIN. “Lab results data is also vital for an office’s infectious disease protocols. A patient who tests positive for COVID-19 could unknowingly endanger a clinic or hospital if appropriate interventions are not taken.”
These lab alerts are being made available through UHIN’s Clinical Health Information Exchange (CHIE) and is part of the CHIE Alerts platform. The CHIE is the state-designated Health Information Exchange (HIE) for all of Utah and includes data from 95% of Utah’s hospitals and 90% of providers from Utah and the surrounding areas. Currently the CHIE encompasses clinical and hospital patient records for more than 6 million patients.
Providers, ACOs and care managers interested in receiving COVID-19 lab alerts access should contact the UHIN team by email at enrollment@uhin.org or customerservice@uhin.org.
About UHIN: UHIN is a nonprofit coalition of healthcare providers, payers, state government and other stakeholders that have come together to reduce healthcare costs and improve quality and access for the community by enabling providers, payers and patients to exchange information electronically. UHIN focuses on creating electronic exchange solutions that work for the entire healthcare community, from single-provider practices to large integrated healthcare systems.