Only six months live and one million patient records secured by the MetroChicago Health Information Exchange (HIE).
Those are the numbers for the HIE, an initiative of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council (MCHC), and powered by the Irving, Tx.-based Sandlot Solutions. MetroChicago HIE’s one-millionth patient record was created in early February at Centegra Health System. It represents a significant step toward the organization’s ultimate goal of a single patient record for all 9.2 million Chicagoland residents, officials say.
“Hitting this milestone in such short order shows the confidence that our participants have in this service, and in its ability to help them provide the highest quality of care to the communities they serve,” Dan Yunker, president and CEO of MCHC, said in a statement. “We believe that as consumers experience the benefits of having their information connected and available, they will seek care from providers who are using the most current and effective technology, like the MetroChicago HIE.”
While MetroChicago HIE focuses primarily on the northeast region of the state, the program is connected with three downstate HIEs, and a national health records network that serves more than 5,000 healthcare organizations and more than 200,000 individual users—an important resource for local patients who may need care while away from the Chicago area.
About the Author
Rajiv Leventhal
Managing Editor
Rajiv Leventhal is Managing Editor of Healthcare Innovation, covering healthcare IT leadership and strategy. Since 2012, he has been covering health IT developments for the publication's CIO and CMIO-based audience, and has taken keen interest in areas such as policy and payment, patient engagement, health information exchange, mobile health, healthcare data security, and telemedicine.
He can be followed on Twitter @RajivLeventhal