VA launches health information portability pilot
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced a new pilot in the Spokane, Wash., region that will improve the portability of health information to veterans and active-duty servicemembers.
The Spokane VA Medical Center and Fairchild Air Force Base, in Spokane, will partner with Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS), a health information exchange (HIE), to securely exchange EHR information using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) as a next step toward implementation of the historic Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER).
The Spokane pilot is slated to run through 2012, according to INHS, a Spokane-based nonprofit HIE that connects 38 hospitals and healthcare facilities, allowing physicians and providers to securely access patient information using wired and wireless technologies. The INHS network includes more than 4,000 physicians, 450 clinics and physician offices and 3.5 million EMRs.
VA will invite veterans who already receive healthcare from VA and from selected hospitals and providers in the Spokane area to sign up for the pilot, with the understanding that their information will not be shared through the program without their authorization.
Led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NHIN is the set of standards, specifications and policies that enable the secure exchange of health information over the internet between treating physicians, when authorized by a patient. Clinicians from participating organizations can share authorized patient data electronically, ensuring around-the-clock access to critical health information.
This immediate electronic access supports increased accuracy, efficiency and safety and also helps to avoid redundant care and testing, VA stated.
The Spokane VA Medical Center and Fairchild Air Force Base, in Spokane, will partner with Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS), a health information exchange (HIE), to securely exchange EHR information using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) as a next step toward implementation of the historic Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER).
The Spokane pilot is slated to run through 2012, according to INHS, a Spokane-based nonprofit HIE that connects 38 hospitals and healthcare facilities, allowing physicians and providers to securely access patient information using wired and wireless technologies. The INHS network includes more than 4,000 physicians, 450 clinics and physician offices and 3.5 million EMRs.
VA will invite veterans who already receive healthcare from VA and from selected hospitals and providers in the Spokane area to sign up for the pilot, with the understanding that their information will not be shared through the program without their authorization.
Led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NHIN is the set of standards, specifications and policies that enable the secure exchange of health information over the internet between treating physicians, when authorized by a patient. Clinicians from participating organizations can share authorized patient data electronically, ensuring around-the-clock access to critical health information.
This immediate electronic access supports increased accuracy, efficiency and safety and also helps to avoid redundant care and testing, VA stated.