Epic, eHealth Exchange and CommonWell among HHS-approved QHIN candidates

Epic, eHealth Exchange and CommonWell among HHS-approved QHIN candidates

A half-dozen organizations on Monday were approved by the Department of Health and Human Services as the inaugural batch of candidates to participate as qualified health information networks as part of ONC’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement.During a Feb. 13 event at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, six healthcare organizations were approved to implement TEFCA as prospective QHINs: CommonWell Health Alliance, eHealth Exchange, Epic TEFCA Interoperability Services, Health Gorilla, Kno2, and KONZA National Network.
In a blog post, National Coordinator for Health IT Micky Tripathi recognized those organizations, “for their willingness to voluntarily step up and meet the…

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Regenstrief Institute names new president and CEO

Regenstrief Institute names new president and CEO

Indiana University School of Medicine this week announced that Rachel E. Patzer, an expert in epidemiology and health services research, has been appointed to be president and chief executive officer of the school-affiliated Regenstrief Institute.WHY IT MATTERSPatzer, who holds degrees including a masters in public health and a doctorate in epidemiology, will begin the new role on May 1. She currently works at Emory University School of Medicine, where she serves as the founding director of its Health Services Research Center and is a tenured professor there in the school’s department of surgery.
She founded the Health Services Research Center at Emory…

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Omaha program uses HIE tech to improve postpartum care for minority parents and children

Omaha program uses HIE tech to improve postpartum care for minority parents and children

CyncHealth, Collective Medical and Innsena are being recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Racial Equity in Postpartum Care Challenge, including federal funding of $40,000, for their postpartum care program in Omaha.Pregnancy-related deaths are three to four times more common among minorities than among Caucasian women, even among those with a college degree. This program improves postpartum care for Black and Indigenous parents and children with high-risk conditions who participate in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and significantly reduces maternal and neonatal mortality.
Out of the 25 winners recognized by HHS, this program is the only one using health…

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CSRI, eHealth Exchange partner up for TEFCA

CSRI, eHealth Exchange partner up for TEFCA

eHealth Exchange this week announced that it will be partnering with the Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability – comprising the largest nonprofit health data networks in the U.S. – in its anticipated role as a Qualified Health Information Network.WHY IT MATTERSAs one of the nation’s oldest and largest health information networks, eHealth Exchange brings 13 years of experience to its planned QHIN status under the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA.
That includes linking 61 regional and state health information exchanges and five federal agencies, enabling exchange across more than two…

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What Is The Enterprise Master Patient Index?

What Is The Enterprise Master Patient Index?

The enterprise master patient index is a database that maintains a definitive record of all patients within a healthcare organization. It is used within an overall process called patient identity management in healthcare. The EMPI is used to positively identify patients for the purpose of providing care, processing billing, and the exchange of data among other entities. Sometimes called the corporate ID, the purpose of the EMPI is to ensure that all patient data is accurately and consistently recorded and maintained, and to prevent duplicate records or errors in patient identification. It is also used to facilitate the exchange of patient…

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This World AIDS Day – Reflecting on Health IT as a Tool for Advancing Health Equity and Ending the HIV Epidemic

This World AIDS Day – Reflecting on Health IT as a Tool for Advancing Health Equity and Ending the HIV Epidemic

December 1st is World AIDS Day, when we collectively remember those who died due to AIDS-related illnesses and renew our commitment to work together to end the HIV epidemic and support people with HIV. This year’s theme, “Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV,” emphasizes accountability and action. Collaborative, community-based, cross sector, and whole-of-government approaches that address clinical and social determinants of health (SDOH) are needed to support communities disproportionally affected by HIV and achieve national HIV/AIDS goals. Interoperable health IT, with health equity as a fundamental design feature, is an important tool to enable these efforts.Health IT…

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STAR HIE Program Helps Unlock Powerful Public Health Data in West Virginia

STAR HIE Program Helps Unlock Powerful Public Health Data in West Virginia

ONC launched the Strengthening the Technical Advancement and Readiness of Public Health Agencies via Health Information Exchange (STAR HIE) Program in 2020 using funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The program was expanded in 2021 to increase support for efforts to improve vaccination data sharing between jurisdictional Immunization Information Systems (IIS) and HIEs. The West Virginia Health Information Network (WVHIN) was among the 22 recipients that received a combined $20 million in funds from ONC via the CARES Act.We sat down with WVHIN’s Executive Director, Sonia Chambers, to learn how the STAR HIE Program helped…

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OpenHIE

The OpenHIE community of practice formed in early 2013, evolving from the work that initially began in 2009 to establish the Rwandan Health Information Exchange (RHIE). As the benefits of the approach adopted in Rwanda became apparent, interest gathered from other countries looking to apply similar architectural tactics within their environments. Today, OpenHIE’s approaches, reference […]

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