Recent HIE Users of the Month

Each month, HealthInfoNet recognizes one of its highest volume users, highlighting the ways in which they use the HIE to support improvements in patient care at their organization.

December, 2014 - Matt Hackett, R.PH, works in the inpatient pharmacy at Maine Medical Center. He noted that checking the HIE is important to help avoid any drug interactions. He recalled a situation recently where the HIE helped him catch a potentially deadly interaction. Read his story.

January - Breanna Graham is a Health Information Associate at Northeast Cardiology Associates (NECA). Using HealthInfoNet, Breanna and her colleagues have reduced the number of phone calls they need to make and the wait time for faxes has been eliminated. "When you call, you may not get records in a timely fashion or the fax may fail. HealthInfoNet is much more reliable." Read her story.

February - Joseph Borer, MD, is an ED Physician with St. Joseph Hospital. He mostly reviews past medical problems, hospital admissions, and notes from recent visits to a primary care provider. This helps him better coordinate care. "It helps me understand what your providers are doing and participate in that care in an improved way." Read his story.  

We recently welcomed a number of new members to our Board of Directors. New members in 2015 include the following. For a full list of members, visit our website.

• Andy Crowder, CHCIO - Senior Vice President and CIO, MaineHealth, Portland
• Kevin Lewis, CEO, Maine Community Health Options, Lewiston
• Ken McCall, PharmD, Professor, College of Pharmacy, UNE, Portland
• Michelle Probert, Manager, Integrated Health Services, Bath Iron Works, Bath
• Paul Stein, COO, MaineGeneral Medical Center, Augusta
• Carol Timberlake, Administrator, Orchard Park & Edgewood Rehab & Living Center, Strong

As part of our recent strategic planning process, we've implemented a new organizational structure that reflects our growth in both employees and services. Leading our new Client Services Team as Director of Client Services is Katie Sendze, formerly Program Director. In addition to leading our major grant programs, Katie is now also responsible for customer relations, training, and account management. Phil Profenno, formerly Director of Implementation and Client Services is now Director of Information Services. His team is responsible for maintaining the HIE's core systems, providing application software development and managing interfaces with data partners. 

We also recently said goodbye to two of our management team members. Todd Rogow, former CTO, left in January to be Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Healthix, a large health information exchange organization that currently serves New York City and surrounding communities. Amy Landry, former Communications Manager, left in March to be Communications and Outreach Manager for the Center for Healthcare Transparency at the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI). NRHI, based in Portland, represents over 30 organizations across the country working to transform health care delivery through improvements in patient experience, care quality, population health, and per capita costs. Both Todd and Amy were with HealthInfoNet for close to five years. 

We continue to sign new customers to our reporting and analytics service. Current customers include St. Joseph Healthcare, Franklin Community Health Network, Beacon Health LLC, Mount Desert Island Hospital and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. The service has been receiving a lot of attention in the news media, social media sites and healthcare IT circles from Maine to Washington, DC. Here is some of that recent news coverage.

• Patients in Motion - Healthcare Informatics
• Maine's HIE Launches Analytics Service - Healthcare IT News
• How Maine hospitals are predicting your next trip to the ER - Bangor Daily News