Highmark Inc.’s fledgling health information exchange is one of four electronic medical data systems statewide to receive a $1.5 million grant from the Pennsylvania eHealth Collaborative.
The collaborative — which is building the Internet-based infrastructure that will allow doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, insurers and government agencies to share a patient’s health records — announced on Monday that it was handing out $6 million in all.
Besides Highmark HIE LLC, the other exchanges receiving money are Philadelphia’s HealthShare of Southeastern PA Inc., Allentown’s Lehigh Valley Hospital Inc. and St. Luke’s Hospital of Bethlehem.
According to the state, the four grant recipients will use the money to “connect hospitals, physicians, nurses and other health care providers, [then] connect to a technical platform that will enable interoperability among participating HIEs.”
Pennsylvania, which has been staked to about $17 million in federal stimulus money to help build its statewide health information exchange system, hopes to have a fully operable health data exchange within the next few years.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Xerox, issued in late July, suggests Americans are still apprehensive about the free exchange of their health data — only 26 percent want fully digital medical records, and 63 percent of Americans fear a hacker could somehow steal their personal health data. Only 40 percent of survey respondents said they think that digital health records “will deliver better, more efficient care.”
via Highmark’s data exchange wins $1.5M grant – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.