California health information organization closes after losing state bid

A California nonprofit meant to facilitate health information exchange has closed its doors after losing a bid to become the state's main exchange organization, Modern Healthcare reports. Board members for California Regional Health Information Organization, or CalRHIO, voted to disband after their company failed to win contracts with the state or negotiate a partnership that would fulfill state requirements.  California officials opted instead to create their own e-health exchange organization. CalRHIO's competitor, the California eHealth Collaborative, which also failed to win the state contract, will seek to become a "regional extension center for health IT" by applying for stimulus funding (Conn, 1/12).

Also in Health IT news, "Medical records for about 15,500 Northern California Kaiser patients -- about 9,000 of them in the Bay Area -- were compromised after thieves stole an external drive from a Kaiser employee's car last month, Kaiser officials said Tuesday," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "Kaiser officials said the electronic device contained patients' names, medical record numbers and possibly ages, genders, telephone numbers, addresses and general information related to their care and treatment." The employee has been fired, Kaiser Permanente officials said because "the employee's use of the device was unauthorized and violated Kaiser Permanente's strict policies regarding data storage" (Colliver, 1/13).