New pilot program to connect rural health care providers with VA

The Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) today announced a new pilot program to connect rural health care providers in the Moab, Utah region with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to improve access and coordination of patient care for veterans and service members living in rural areas.

“We are excited to launch this pilot with UHIN and honored to collaborate with the VA in order to serve veterans living in rural areas”

As the state designated Health Information Exchange (HIE), UHIN has partnered with Axolotl Corp., a provider of HIE services and solutions, to enable the clinical Health Information Exchange (cHIE) connection to the VA, using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) protocols.

This is the fifth in a series of nationwide pilot programs to expand services to Veterans through access to the Nationwide Health Information Network. It is the first pilot with the explicit mission of extending services to rural areas, and among the first to enable the electronic exchange of VA patient data between VA and non-VA clinicians across the state. Authorized physicians will also be able to query the cHIE to view documents from VA-participating physicians located in the rural communities.

The VA will monitor this pilot closely to assure that Veterans' privacy, security and safety is the highest priority, while determining whether to expand the pilot to other rural areas.

"The Department of Veterans Affairs is pleased to partner with the Utah Health Information Network, as we extend the reach of VA services to Veterans in rural communities," said Dr. Tim Cromwell, director of Standards and Interoperability for the Veterans Health Administration. "Seven out of ten Veterans receive some portion of their health care from private sector hospitals and clinics, such as those served by UHIN. VA is grateful to have such strong and visionary partners in the state of Utah to pursue this pilot project."

"UHIN is focused on creating solutions that work for the entire health care community, and we are honored that this pilot allows us to extend our clinical information network to our Veterans and Service Members in rural areas," said Jan Root, PhD, president of UHIN.

Allen Memorial Hospital in Moab, Utah will be the amongst the first UHIN community providers to participate in the pilot. "Allen Memorial Hospital is pleased to be a part of the VA information exchange initiative," said Roy Barraclough, CEO and administrator, Allen Memorial Hospital. "The pilot program will allow the hospital and its medical staff to better serve the health care needs of this important segment of our population, and is consistent with our local health care delivery system's efforts to continually improve access to high quality care."

Axolotl's compliant Inter-HIE Gateway will enable the bi-directional exchange of documents between the cHIE and NHIN partners in the area, including the VA. Axolotl's Elysium® Exchange suite of applications, which powers the UHIN's cHIE, provides clinicians, hospitals and other authorized users a way to share and view patient information in a secure, electronic environment.

"We are excited to launch this pilot with UHIN and honored to collaborate with the VA in order to serve veterans living in rural areas," said Glenn Keet, president of Axolotl.

Source: Utah Health Information Network