Sometimes life can get difficult and we focus our energy on the negative things happening around us or to us, and we forget to be thankful. It is so refreshing to spend time with people who see the cup as half full and delight in life's little pleasures, much like many of us did as a child.

I get sentimental this time of year, or as my four year old would say, "mushy" about all the wonderful people in my life. They range in age; some are lifelong friends; and some I have just had the pleasure of meeting. The past year has been amazing! I have had the pleasure of spending my days with care managers who are passionate about helping their patients, providers who are committed to making our community healthier by working together, and patients who are gaining wisdom and confidence to care for themselves and their disease. Thankful doesn't begin to describe how these people and their families are feeling.

I suspect around the dinner table this Thanksgiving there will be lots of laughter and many memories being made as families are once again feeling a spark of hope that seemed impossible just 12 short months ago.

Thank you for sharing your journey as we improve the quality of life of your family, friends, and neighbors. As they say, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Happy Thanksgiving,

As patients, we expect our caregivers to use the best tools available to improve and safeguard our health. In the Bangor Beacon Community, one of those tools is the electronic health information exchange (HIE) managed by HealthInfoNet. This secure system helps providers quickly share a patient's important health information to better coordinate their care. In Bangor, this is already happening between Eastern Maine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital and across Maine among 21 hospitals and dozens of physician practices.

For caregivers using the system, HIE is just a click away. But this, like any other information system, is only as good as the people who manage it. So who are the people that keep HIE running 24/7-365 days a year? Meet the technical team at HealthInfoNet! In alphabetical order, we have Aaron Bentley, who standardizes test descriptions across systems to make sure a patient's combined record comes to life. Next is Glenn Labrecque, who keeps all the systems up and running, even in his pajamas at 3am! Phil Profenno keeps everything organized and moving forward when a new partner connects to the exchange. Maria Stevenson answers patient questions and helps patients make an informed choice about participating. Chris Wilbur makes all the separate electronic health record systems actually "talk to each other." And Deb Wilson is the keeper of user accounts and makes sure patient records match correctly. So while using the system is simple and seamless for caregivers, it takes a number of dedicated folks to bring this tool to life.

This fall, HealthInfoNet passed the million record mark, meaning more than one million people who were treated in the State of Maine have a record within the health information exchange. As HealthInfoNet continues to add more providers to the exchange, the number of patients should also grow rapidly and come close to the 1.3 million residents living in the state today. Also growing as HealthInfoNet expands is the comprehensiveness of information stored, which is key to unlocking HealthInfoNet's potential for improving care coordination and care transitions. Already, of the million people with records in the HIE, more than 145,000 have visited two or more participating providers. And in two-hospital towns like Bangor and Lewiston, HealthInfoNet's system shows as many as 75 percent of patients crossover, meaning 75 percent of the time, patients registering at one facility already have information in the HIE.

Above Photo: From Left - Top Row - Aaron Bentley, Phil Profenno, Chris Wilbur. Bottom row - Maria Stevenson, Deb Wilson, Glenn Labrecque.