Greater Houston Healthconnect Expands Network

GreaterHouston Healthconnect, a regional health information exchange (HIE) in Houston, has just added CHI St. Luke’s Health, a major health player in Texas, to its network.

Houston’s CHI St. Luke’s earlier announced its intention to build a broad network of primary care and specialty physicians to complement its six hospitals, three emergency centers, and other service locations. With population health as a key goal, the CHI St Luke’s network will utilize access to patient health information from any of the participating Healthconnect facilities in order to achieve clinical integration, manage transitions of care, and improve long term health outcomes, its officials say.

“CHI St. Luke’s and our network of partner physicians are endeavoring to reach patients where they are in the community by offering them flexibility of care options and smart information systems to help them stay healthy,” Michael Covert, the organization’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “As part of Greater Houston Healthconnect we’re letting our patients know that we care about them no matter where they had or will receive care in the future. Their medical information should follow them wherever they go―seamlessly. We need a neutral, community-based organization to accomplish that.”

Healthconnect partners with the Texas Health Services Authority (THSA), the statewide body responsible for connecting regional HIEs throughout Texas. Greater Houston Healthconnect currently has agreements with 284 healthcare organizations, representing over 50 percent of area hospital beds and 40 percent of physicians. Millions of patient records are available for query through the exchange and almost all major Texas medical center institutions participate, officials say.