The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has approved plans from Maryland, New Mexico and Utah to begin implementing regional health information exchanges using funds made available through the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, Modern Healthcare reports.
Maryland
Maryland's not-for-profit health IT organization -- the Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients, or CRISP -- received nearly $10 million to build a statewide health data exchange.
The state plans to build the network in phases, starting with the exchange of laboratory results, radiology reports and other clinical information (Lubell, Modern Healthcare, 6/10).
In April, CRISP selected the health IT company Axolotl to provide the infrastructure for the exchange. According to Axolotl, the exchange eventually could link together 47 acute care hospitals and 7,907 physician practices and other health care providers (Flook, Washington Business Journal, 6/7).
New Mexico
The New Mexico Health Information Collaborate received $7 million to build the state's health information exchange. The online network is supported by Centergy Data Exchange Service from MedPlus, a health IT subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics (New Mexico Business Weekly, 6/7).
The exchange will work with New Mexico's regional health IT extension center, an organization tasked with helping health care providers implement electronic health records. Over the next two years, the state aims to connect 1,000 health care providers through the health IT projects (Modern Healthcare, 6/10).
Utah
The not-for-profit Utah Health Information Network has been tasked with developing the state's Clinical Health Information Exchange, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Jan Root, UHIN president and CEO, said most of the $15.8 million the state has received in federal grant money will go toward helping small clinics and health care provider offices implement EHR systems and connect with the health data exchange (Stewart, Salt Lake Tribune, 6/5).