December 17, 2019

Colorado’s Health Information Exchanges Expand Data Sharing to Include Clinical Documents

Today, Quality Health Network (QHN), based in Grand Junction, and Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO), based in Denver, announced that the two health information exchanges (HIEs) have expanded their exchange of secure patient data, enabling better care coordination for millions of Colorado patients.

QHN and CORHIO now exchange clinical documents, including care summaries of recent visits, so that no matter the geographic location of the physicians and care team, vital information can be quickly accessed throughout Colorado. Using either QHN’s or CORHIO’s system, a provider can easily find hospital records, clinical documents, test results, and more information to care for patients who may have traveled to another location to receive care or were out of town when a health incident occurred.

Ski season often serves as a reminder of why health data sharing is so important. As Coloradans travel across the state for play or work, their data will follow them. If a person ends up in a ski town hospital emergency room, the doctors there can quickly access their health information from their home doctors. When the person returns home, their local doctors can access data from the emergency room visit to help with recovery.

“The improved flow of information between QHN and CORHIO improves the quality and affordability of care Coloradans receive, for not only ski injuries but for all medical needs, by ensuring clinicians have access to the right information at the right time,” said Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera. “This also reduces the need for duplicate tests and labs which ultimately saves Coloradans money. As the Director of the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care, I support this important work and applaud the Office of eHealth Innovation and eHealth Commission for leading these improvements through Colorado’s Health IT Roadmap.”

“Securely sharing health data across systems and regions is an important step in providing high-quality, low-cost healthcare,” said Dick Thompson, QHN Executive Director and CEO. “This link between QHN and CORHIO provides a vital connection to health data for all Coloradans. QHN will continue building on our successful connections to health information exchanges in Utah and Arizona and the Veterans’ Administration, establishing an important network across the western U.S. and nationally.”

“As health information exchange expands across the nation, Colorado remains on the forefront of this shift,” said Morgan Honea, CORHIO Chief Executive Officer. “This collaboration between QHN and CORHIO ensures caregivers across the state have access to accurate and timely information, including clinical care summaries, regardless of their location or the system they use to manage medical records. This statewide interoperability is a vital step in Colorado’s participation in national data exchange expansion.”

Over the last two years, QHN and CORHIO have been notifying providers when a health event occurred for one of their patients through an alerting system.

This connection is part of the Patient-Centered Data Home (PCDH) project with the Strategic Health Information Exchange Council (SHIEC), which is a cost-effective, scalable method of exchanging patient data among HIEs. From January through October of this year, the HIEs shared 241,932 event notifications, enabling real-time care coordination for Colorado patients. QHN and CORHIO connect 89 Colorado hospitals and over 7,600 providers. In addition, through the PCDH project, more than 679,000 messages have been shared from 26 HIEs through QHN’s infrastructure since 2016.

According to a recent survey by the Strategic Health Information Exchange Council (SHIEC), 92% of Americans are covered by a regional HIE.

Media following the release

https://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/editorials/with-health-data-sharing-the-more-reach-the-better/article_0c0255fe-21ef-11ea-994a-9f2088bc5118.html

https://www.hcinnovationgroup.com/interoperability-hie/health-information-exchange-hie/news/21118701/colorado-hies-begin-exchanging-clinical-documents

https://thebusinesstimes.com/health-information-organizations-expand-data-exchange/

https://www.gjsentinel.com/lifestyle/health_and_wellness/health-information-exchanges-team-up-to-improve-connectivity/article_27d6271a-2127-11ea-afff-cfaa161067b6.html

https://www.kjct8.com/content/news/566321621.html