Kaiser Permanente Colorado joins state HIE

Kaiser Permanente Colorado has signed an agreement to participate in the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization’s (CORHIO’s) health information exchange (HIE) network.

Kaiser Permanente initially will utilize the HIE information for members in southern Colorado, including Colorado Springs and Pueblo, and hopes to later expand to other parts of the state, according to an announcement.

In the past, Kaiser Permanente Colorado participated in a more limited HIE pilot project with CORHIO, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to share information among emergency departments. In 2010, the pilot project was expanded into a broader HIE network to enable better care coordination, according to CORHIO.

Currently there are 31 hospitals, more than 1,300 office-based providers, 123 long-term and post-acute care facilities, 21 behavioral health centers and three large medical laboratories connected to the CORHIO HIE.