Wichita, Kan., has put its plans to develop a health information exchange on hold and, instead, will focus on a statewide health data exchange effort, the Wichita Business Journal reports.
In August, the Medical Society of Sedgwick County formed a not-for-profit group called Wichita Health Information Exchange to facilitate the creation of a health data exchange system in the Wichita area. The group hoped to launch a pilot project by the end of the year.
However, the group's plans changed after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment last month formed a consortium to develop a statewide health data exchange (Heck, Wichita Business Journal, 11/5).
Ron Brown, a Wichita physician and president of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County, said, "It became clear that Sedgwick County and Kansas in general would be better off with us becoming part of a state project rather than being autonomous."
Brown said that he believes the state group will choose a health data exchange system similar to the one Wichita had been pursuing (Shideler, Wichita Eagle, 11/5).
Kansas expects to receive $9 million in federal stimulus funding for the four-year health data exchange project. The exact grant amount will be announced in December, and the funding will be available by mid-January 2010 (Wichita Business Journal, 11/5).