The exchange is designed to create an electronic health record of both inpatient and ambulatory data. This data is then delivered to all members of a patient’s care team either through their electronic medical record (EMR) applications or through web-based viewers.
Healthvision is currently running health information exchanges in 25 US communities which are focused on connecting labs and hospitals. The company hopes the addition of EMR vendors will enhance the exchange’s ability to provide critical information at the point of care.
Players in the health information industry including Allscripts and Lighthouse Medical have also partnered with Healthvision to improve the information available on the e-Health exchange.
The announcement marks the latest step towards President Bush’s vision of an Electronic Health Record for every American in the next ten years. It comes a week after the US government formed an American Health Information Community (AHIC) to provide input and recommendations to the Health and Human Services (HHS) department on how to make health records digital and interoperable while maintaining privacy and security.