HealtHIE Nevada Offering Free Medical-Record Access During COVID-19 Crisis

Aiming to help healthcare leaders combat COVID-19, Nevada’s statewide health information exchange (HIE), HealtHIE Nevada, will be offering its members free access to patient medical records.

Officials this week said that the HealtHIE Chart provider portal, which contains comprehensive medical records on nearly every Nevadan, will be accessible for no cost. According to the HIE’s executives, the normal access cost is $50 per provider per month if they do not send their patients’ data, or $25 per provider per month, if they do send data.

The HIE collects medical records from acute care hospitals, emergency departments, urgent care sites, skilled nursing facilities, doctor offices, laboratories, imaging centers, and other healthcare organizations across the state.  In total, more than 70 organizations in the state are connected on the network.

HealtHIE Nevada’s connections to the State Public Health Lab, Southern Nevada Health District, Washoe County Health District, private labs, and the majority of diagnostic services provides COVID-19 and other test results.

“HealtHIE Nevada is designed for precisely this type of public health challenge. We implore the healthcare community to allow us to assist you and overcome this challenge together,” said Michael Gagnon, HealtHIE Nevada executive director.

The HIE’s officials further noted, “In having quick, reliable access to patient medical records, local doctors and physicians will have more efficient information to provide quality care in this critical time. It’s HealtHIE Nevada’s hope to work with the healthcare community in order to save lives and reduce spread of Coronavirus.”

As recently reported by Healthcare Innovation, other HIEs across the country are stepping up to play a part in sharing data and coordinating care in the COVID-19 crisis. The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), for example, is working to deploy a visual data dashboard for the state department of health and public health departments to track important measures on how COVID-19 is impacting Indiana. Meanwhile, in New York City, Healthix, the large HIE in region, is working with the New York City and New York State Department of Health to assist in daily reporting of new COVID-19 cases.