HIMSS Health Information Exchange (HIE)
The terms “RHIO” and “Health Information Exchange” or “HIE” are often used interchangeably. RHIO (regional health information organization) is a group of organizations with a business stake in improving the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare delivery. RHIOs are the building blocks of the proposed National Health Information Network (NHIN) initiative proposed by David Brailer, MD, and his team at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT). To build a national network of interoperable health records, the effort must first develop at the local and state levels. The concept of NHIN requires extensive collaboration by a diverse set of stake holders. The challenges are many to achieve success for a health information exchange or a RHIO.
Information and data exchange is a critical to the delivery of quality patient care services and effectiveness of healthcare organizations. The benefits of appropriate sharing of health information among patients, physicians, and other authorized participants in the healthcare delivery value chain, are nearly universally understood and desired. Few organizations and systems have taken advantage of the full potential of the current state of the art in computer science and health informatics. Healthcare Information Exchange initiatives focus on the areas of technology, interoperability, standards utilization, harmonization, and business information systems while also supporting HIMSS activities focused on the national, state and local level.
Latest News:
CalRHIO Spearheads Statewide HIE
The California Regional Health Initiative Organization is collaborating with United Healthcare to provide support for California’s statewide electronic health information exchange initiative.
Survey Results: States and HIE Initiatives Describe their HITECH Plans and Concerns
Great optimism – tempered by very real concern – is the best characterization of how states and health information exchange (HIE) initiatives view passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
Maine Readies for November Launch of Health Data Exchange
After three years of development, Maine's health information exchange, called HealthInfoNet, is set to go live at the end of November, Devore Culver, executive director of the health data exchange.
