The University of Texas at Austin and Jericho Systems Corp. are joining forces to develop a national pilot program designed to explore advanced patient control over shared EMRs.

As part of an effort to help make sure their residents’ health information is available after a hurricane or other widespread disaster, four Gulf states have partnered with six states in the East and Midwest to help patients and providers access critical health information when they are unable to visit their regular doctors or hospitals.

The focus over the past month has been more on health IT and EHRs, not information exchange, but of course exchange underlies all other efforts.

Participation in health information exchange is on the upswing, with 30 percent of hospitals and 10 percent of ambulatory practices now linked to one of 119 U.S. operational HIEs, according a study in the July issue of Health Affairs.

SANTA MONICA, Calif.-- Orion Health, the leader in eHealth technology, and the North Dakota Health Information Network (NDHIN) today announced that NDHIN has selected Orion Health HIE to power North Dakota’s statewide health information exchange (HIE). NDHIN providers will utilize Orion Health HIE to enhance a number of healthcare programs aimed at improving care transitions, streamlining physician-to-physician referrals and expanding existing immunization registry data, among others. Orion Health HIE will provide the technology backbone supporting NDHIN programs that advance the network’s core vision: Quality healthcare for all North Dakotans – anywhere, anytime.

To build interest and participation in its eHealth Exchange, Healtheway—a non-profit, public-private partnership (formerly known as the Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange)—announced nine founding members.

Of 800 physician groups, 46 percent plan to join a health information exchange, according to a HIMSS Analytics industry report, “5th Annual U.S. Ambulatory EHR & Practice Management Study,” published by CapSite.

Individual states have taken big steps forward with health information exchange while the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released guidelines to provide recommended policies and practices for health information service providers (HISPs), trust communities and accrediting bodies to enable providers to securely exchange patient information across geographic, organizational and vendor boundaries.