Two health information exchanges from different states Have been combined to form A regional organization that aims to promote growth, innovation and sustainability.
The organization, named Contexture, was established through an affiliate agreement between CORHIO and Health Current, which are HIE located in Colorado and Arizona. The newly merged organization includes nearly 200 employees and is responsible for overseeing the information needs of approximately 1,800 medical institutions.
“[CORHIO and Health Current] Melissa Kotrys, CEO of Health Current and Contexture, said in a telephone interview. “So we recognize that by uniting, we can innovate more, we can bring more expertise, we can grow and do different things for our community, all of which really bring to our organization Overall sustainability.”
Initially, CORHIO and Health Current will continue to provide services in their respective states as usual. But in the next year, HIE will integrate their teams, IT systems and services.
Kotrys said the ultimate goal is to enhance the flow of data from one state to another. Currently, these two HIEs are active participants in the patient-centered data house initiated by SHIEC. Although the plan allows admission-discharge-transfer data to flow across the state line, Contexture will ultimately provide patients in Arizona and Colorado with stronger cross-state data sharing.
Kotrys said that in addition to advancing interoperability, Contexture will also bring together diverse services. CORHIO and Health Current provide similar services, such as real-time patient alerts and basic two-way data exchange, but they also each have unique functions.
For example, Health Current has been bringing behavioral health data, including general mental health and substance abuse treatment information, into HIE. Kotrys says this requires a lot of additional consent and structure. Health Current hopes to introduce behavioral health data infrastructure to CORHIO through regional organizations.
Another key goal of the merger was to expand the data types available for the two HIEs. These organizations are combining data sets to provide participants with a wide range of information, including the social determinants of health data.
“We are providing more information so that we can provide participants with complete information about their health conditions,” Cotellis said.
The merger of CORHIO and Health Current is the second domestic merger after establishment Crispy DC, CRISP is a HIE located in Maryland, which cooperates with partners in the District of Columbia to implement HIE services. Kotrys said that CRISP and CRISP DC act as models for CORHIO and Health Current when formulating the details of Contexture.
These types of affiliations and mergers are key to the evolving field of healthcare, helping to support private stakeholders and public health entities.
“This regional movement and the debut of Contexture as our regional organization is indeed an evolution,” Cotellis said. “As an industry, a community, and a country, we have tremendous opportunities to advance unique [affiliations] When we figure out what the future of interoperability is. “
Photo: Gerasimov174, Getty Images
