MODERN HEALTHCARE
By Joseph Conn
With its economic stimulus funds dwindling, the out-going Obama administration is still backing health information exchanges meant to spur better patient care.
Using leftover money from a $2 billion appropriation, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology at [U.S. Department of Health & Human Services] HHS awarded grants totaling nearly $2.4 million to four state [health information exchanges] HIEs.
The Delaware Health Information Network and the Oregon Health Authority each received $625,000, the Rhode Island Quality Institute received $489,544, and the Utah Health Information Network got $624,604.
The Delaware HIN serves 60 hospitals in Delaware and Maryland, and will use its grant—it’s third from the ONC—to connect with counterpart HIEs in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, said Randy Farmer, its COO.
That will enable Delaware hospitals to send and receive patient admission, discharge and transfer (ADT) notifications with other healthcare providers.
Salt Lake City-based UHIN will use its money to create a more robust provider directory, enhance its patient portal capabilities and expand its ability to send hospital ADT notices to healthcare organizations in Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.
Read the rest of the story on the Modern Healthcare website.