February 24, 2010
InformationWeek
By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
The Nebraska Health Information Initiative, which served mostly the Omaha region until now, is expanding statewide.
While most states are gearing up health information exchange strategies, some states are further along than others. Nebraska is among states already making strides in expanding its capabilities for healthcare providers to exchange patient data.
The Nebraska Health Information Initiative, or NeHII, has expanded its presence in central Nebraska with the addition of data sharing by Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, which serves the city of Hastings.
Until now, most healthcare providers contributing data to and using the exchange were situated in the Omaha area in the eastern part of the state. Last year, several major healthcare organizations and hospitals in the region, including Alegent Health, Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Methodist Health System, and Nebraska Medical Center, successfully completed a pilot of the exchange.
While Mary Lanning Memorial is the first hospital to join the exchange since the pilot launched, other large healthcare providers in the state will be joining soon, including Creighton University school of dentistry and the university's Creighton Medical Associates network of physicians, also in the Omaha area, said Deb Bass, interim executive director of NeHII.
After that, the exchange will expand west with the addition of Great Plains Regional Medical Center.
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