In early 2013, COHIE Board Members voted to endorse CliniSync as the preferred HIE provider for central Ohio providers. This endorsement followed a deliberate vetting process to ensure that the vendor selected would be the best fit for the community.
A key component to the success of HIE in a community is the participation of the hospital systems. This will probably not happen all at once in the central Ohio area. The pace at which the various hospital systems come onto the CliniSync system will be determined by their internal needs and readiness. Nontheless, the eventual benefits of having a community-wide HIE system are clear. Physicians, hospital systems and other care providers sharing pertinent information in real-time will certainly have a positive impact on patient outcomes, not to mention the cost of care delivery.
Providers have many questions about how tapping into an HIE will impact their work lives. Here are some commonly asked inquiries about a central Ohio HIE:
What will the cost be for providers? There is no charge to use the "CliniSync HIE Services for Physicians" because federal grants subsidize these basic services. Future direct integration through your certified EHR may require vendor fees.
Are there patient privacy concerns when accessing the HIE? The technology used to create the HIE will be HIPAA compliant, secure and only accessible by authorized staff. Patients provide a one-time consent to their physicians and hospitals to share the information.
What type of information can be exchanged via the HIE? The information that can be exchanged includes patient care summaries; medication histories, referrals, general lab results, pathology results, blood bank results, transcribed reports and radiology reports.
COHIE will keep you informed as more specific information about the HIE in central Ohio develops. In the meantime, please contact us with specific questions.