The Kansas Health Information Network (KHIN)—and its subsidiary KAMMCO Health Solutions (KHS)—have executed a data-sharing agreement with the Missouri Health Connection (MHC).
The two health information exchanges (HIEs), considered two of the largest of their ilk in the U.S., are partnering to bring a “resolution to a much needed issue for health data sharing in the Midwest,” officials said in a recent announcement.
This partnership will serve more than 20 million combined patients across Kansas, Missouri and the Midwest to help ensure that healthcare providers connected to either MHC or KHIN will have access to a comprehensive health record that includes data aggregated from both health information exchanges.
KHIN connects over 125 hospitals, 74 percent of Kansas physician practices, all of the federally qualified health centers and many other pharmacies, home health providers, health plans and long-term care facilities together. Meanwhile, MHC’s network includes 75 hospitals, hundreds of clinics and 14 community health centers. Its member participants deliver more than half of the in-patient care provided in Missouri, officials touted.
MHC leaders note the importance of this collaboration and commitment as an “epic win for Missouri, Kansas and the Midwest,” according to Angie Bass, president and CEO of MHC. Bass stated, “Data sharing between MHC and KHIN dramatically increases the value of health information exchange to our healthcare customers. Making a connection to each other was a sound way for MHC and KHIN to demonstrate our commitment to serving the health care providers in our respective networks. We are more than thrilled to have KHIN as a partner and collaborator.”
Laura McCrary, executive director of KHIN and president and CEO of KHS, commended the effort to connect, noting “It is an honor to partner with MHC on such an important project that has the potential to improve the safety of medical care in our respective states. In the near future, patients who travel between Missouri and Kansas can rely on the fact that their electronic health information will be available to their healthcare providers. Patients’ medical records will be electronically available to their physicians and other healthcare providers any time of day.”
KHIN continues to make progress as it relates being an entity that can aggregate patient data across all healthcare providers into a longitudinal patient view. As examined in a recent Healthcare Innovation article, the HIE has been working on co-developing solutions that allow for the ability to compute quality measures across all the locations that a patient has received care at, as well as the delivery of aggregated data to payers, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other alternative payment models.
