RelayHealth, CommunityHealth IT collaborate to develop a HIE

After three years of preparing small practices and safety net hospitals in rural Florida to participate in a regional health information exchange (HIE), the not-for-profit CommunityHealth IT has partnered with RelayHealth to enable the transfer of health information among providers and to empower patients and businesses with patient engagement tools.

"The advances in health information exchange have opened new opportunities for rural providers and patients to services that had once only been available in more urban settings. Through the health information exchange, CommunityHealth IT can strengthen the data flow to improve community health and begin to lower healthcare costs," said David C. Willis, MD, CMIO, CommunityHealth IT.

Endorsed by Enterprise Florida— the State of Florida's business development arm— for providing health information technology resources to rural and medically underserviced areas, CommunityHealth IT plans to leverage RelayHealth HIE services to close the gap on the digital divide in the region. Even medical providers without electronic health record systems will be able to access and share patient health information with facilities that have state-of-the art electronic health records.

"Community health organizations face difficult challenges in bridging the rural-urban divide and facilitating the exchange of information across these providers in a community," said Jeff Felton, president, RelayHealth. "RelayHealth is proud to work with CommunityHealth IT to demonstrate how HIE can help providers overcome these challenges."

"In this phase of our project," explained Dr. Willis, "we are working with RelayHealth to help area providers to satisfy regulatory requirements, engage citizens as more active participants in their healthcare and illustrate for our non-medical stakeholders, such as economic development organizations as well as area employers, the short- and long-term benefits of the health information exchange."

Additionally, the RelayHealth HIE platform will serve as the foundation for clinical integration and accountable care efforts throughout the region.

Source: RelayHealth