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Maine To Launch Statewide Health Information Exchange

Maine people will benefit from safer, better coordinated and more efficient healthcare thanks to a new statewide medical information-sharing network that will be launched this year.

Physicians, hospital leaders and public health officials gathered in Augusta this week to announce that more than $4 million has now been raised to begin construction of the nonprofit HealthInfoNet network, placing Maine among the first states in the nation to build and operate a statewide electronic health information network.

This new network will allow caregivers to quickly and efficiently access key clinical information they need to provide the best possible care for their patients. A growing number of healthcare experts believe electronic networks of this kind will help to reduce medical errors and lead to better, more informed treatment decisions that will save lives and money. As HealthInfoNet expands services across the state, an estimated $50 million per year in healthcare costs is expected to be saved as caregivers order fewer unnecessary and duplicative tests, procedures, prescriptions and hospital admissions.

Beginning this winter, more than 2,000 healthcare providers, including 15 rural and urban hospitals across Maine and one-third of practicing physicians in Maine, will join with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (part of the Department of Health & Human Services in a major 24-month demonstration of the new network. Hospitals and physician practices taking part in the pilot account for more than half of the state's annual inpatient hospital admissions and nearly 40 percent of Maine's outpatient visits each year. Following the successful completion of the demonstration phase, plans call for HealthInfoNet to be expanded to include other providers who care for Maine's entire 1.3 million residents.

Today, a significant percentage of patient-specific clinical information in Maine is stored in paper-based records. Paper-based records can be cumbersome for caregivers to access--- and very difficult to share, particularly when information is needed on an urgent basis. Through the pilot project, many hospitals, physicians and other caregivers across Maine will---for the first time ever---have access (with their patients' consent) to a more complete and up-to-date clinical profile of their patients. A new consolidated "electronic health record" or EHR made possible by HealthInfoNet will contain critical information drawn from records that have traditionally been separately maintained in physician practices, hospitals, laboratories and other disparate care settings. Over time, the HealthInfoNet network also will enable individuals to have greater access to their own medical records.

Armed with more complete and timely information, caregivers say they can provide better quality care and improve the coordination of care, particularly for those patients who see several providers and receive care in more than one community or care setting.

Organizations taking part in the pilot include Maine's four largest health delivery systems (Central Maine Health Care, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, MaineGeneral Medical Centers and MaineHealth) as well as an independent, multi-site primary care practice, Martin's Point Health Care, and an independent rural hospital, Franklin Memorial Hospital located in Farmington. Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which is developing a statewide public health information system, will be part of the demonstration phase. This linkage will support the laboratory reporting requirements mandated by Maine law for disease outbreak management purposes.

The health provider organizations listed above include 15 rural and urban hospitals and about 2,000 physicians. Many of Maine's other community hospitals have been involved in HealthInfoNet's planning process and are expected to become part of the statewide network following the demonstration phase.

Don Ward, Director of Public Health Systems for Maine CDC, had this to say about the relationship between the state and HealthInfoNet: "Maine CDC has been a philosophical and financial supporter of HealthInfoNet since its beginning. The opportunities that this program offers thorough the electronic sharing of standardized, complete and accurate clinical and laboratory information will contribute substantially to the protection and promotion of Maine's public health."

HealthInfoNet has retained 3M Health Information Systems, a subsidiary of 3M Company, and Orion Health to build and operate Maine's health information exchange. These two organizations have extensive experience building and operating similar networks in the United States and other countries.

Organized as a public-private partnership, HealthInfoNet has received funding support from a wide range of private foundations, provider organizations and state and federal government agencies. Funding for the two-year pilot has come primarily from the Maine Health Access Foundation ($2 million) and $1.1 million that will be paid to HealthInfoNet by Maine's four largest healthcare delivery systems and Martin's Point Health Care. These provider systems have retained HealthInfoNet to provide technical services that will help develop their internal health information systems and lay the groundwork for the statewide network that will ultimately benefit all of Maine's healthcare providers and the patients they serve.

Public opinion research completed in late 2006 found that many Maine people are concerned about the prospect of medical errors and believe that better coordination and communication among their providers is needed to improve healthcare quality and safety. Individuals in Maine and across the nation say they want more access to their own medical records so that they can verify the accuracy of information in the records and become more engaged in their own care. A Consumer Advisory Committee is assisting HealthInfoNet in the establishment of privacy and security policies designed to insure that systems are in place to protect the privacy of individual medical information.

HealthInfoNet was established in early 2006 as a statewide independent nonprofit organization. Its establishment followed a feasibility study and planning and development process that found strong support for a new network. HealthInfoNet's Board of Directors includes physicians, hospital leaders, consumers, employers, government officials, insurance executives and others.

The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) has provided especially strong financial support for HealthInfoNet's development since 2004.

"MeHAF is committed to advancing strategic solutions to Maine's most pressing health care issues," explains Dr. Wendy Wolf, the Foundation's President & CEO.

"Our support for HealthInfoNet reflects the Foundation's confidence that this initiative can transform health care delivery for every person in Maine, but especially for our most vulnerable - including those who are uninsured. It is well established that people who lack health insurance delay seeking treatment, receive less coordinated care, and face higher risks of early death and disability due to their inability to easily access care.

"By bringing vital information and linking care across providers, HealthInfoNet can provide a virtual way to promote the safest and highest quality of care for our most vulnerable residents.

The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) is Maine's largest statewide, independent health care foundation. Founded in 2000, the Foundation's mission is to promote affordable and timely access to comprehensive, high quality health care and to improve the health of every Maine resident. MeHAF advances strategic solutions for Maine's health care by making grants to non-profit and public entities and supporting programs that target the needs of people who are uninsured and medically underserved.

For more information, contact HealthInfoNet Executive Director Devore Culver at dculver@hinfonet.org or Project Consultant Jim Harnar at jharnar@maine.rr.com or visit www.hinfonet.org



Seven organizations (and many of their affiliated hospitals & physician practices) will participate in HealthInfoNet's 24-month demonstration project). Here is a list of the seven organizations, broken into four categories listed A-D:

A. Four Major Health Delivery Systems & Affiliates (see affiliate below)

Central Maine Healthcare, Lewiston*

EMHS, Brewer**

MaineGeneral Medical Centers, Augusta and Waterville***

MaineHealth, Portland****

B. One Independent, Multi-Site Primary Care Physician Practice

Martin's Point Health Care

C. One Rural Hospital

Franklin Memorial Hospital, Farmington

D. Maine CDC

Participating Rural & Urban Hospitals (15)

Aroostook Medical Center, Presque Isle**
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Blue Hill**
Bridgton Hospital, Bridgton*
Central Maine Medical Center, Lewiston*
Charles A. Dean Hospital, Greenville**
Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor**
Franklin Memorial Hospital, Farmington (independent hospital)
Inland Hospital, Waterville**
MaineGeneral Medical Centers, Augusta and Waterville***
Maine Medical Center, Portland****
Miles Memorial Hospital, Damariscotta****
Rumford Hospital, Rumford*
Sebasticook Valley Hospital, Pittsfield**
Stephens Memorial Hospital, Norway****
St. Andrews Hospital, Boothbay Harbor****

Martin's Point Sites

Bangor
Brunswick
Portland

2,070 (including 15 hospitals listed above & more than one third of the practicing physicians in state)

Click here for a printable version of this press release

Related Documents
Issues Brief on health information exchange and how it is projected to impact Maine.
3M News Release 3M joins HealthInfoNet

Demonstration Phase Project Overview

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Maine To Take Part in National Project Aimed at Protecting Privacy of Patient Information

May 25, 2006

AUGUSTA – Governor John Baldacci announced that Maine has been selected to take part in an extensive national endeavor aimed at protecting patient privacy. As efforts are underway to improve the quality of health care and reduce medical errors, more medical records are computerized and then shared electronically among doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week that Maine and 21 other states and territories have entered subcontracts with RTI International, Inc. (RTI), a not-for-profit research firm, to address privacy and security policy questions affecting electronic clinical information-sharing.

“Maine has been a leader in providing quality health care,” said Governor Baldacci. “Through the State Health Plan, a critical part of Dirigo Health, Maine has been in the forefront of building public-private partnerships such as the Maine Health Information Network Technology project. This project focuses on allowing data from existing systems within practices, hospitals, pharmacies and others to interconnect and transmit data across sites.”

Maine’s statewide electronic information-sharing system, HealthInfoNet, has been under development for the past two years. HealthInfoNet was designated by the Governor to submit Maine’s proposal for this contract. The establishment of a statewide information-sharing system is an important element of the State Health Plan that the Governor unveiled earlier this year.

HealthInfoNet, an independent nonprofit organization is expected to be one of the nation’s first statewide electronic information-sharing system giving authorized health care professionals and treatment centers immediate, secure access to a patient’s health records. Once the system is in place, with patients’ consent, health providers will be able to instantly access critical information. The system will include rigorous protections to ensure the highest level of patient privacy and overall security.

Consumer advocacy groups from across Maine have been involved in the development of HealthInfoNet. Consumer representatives sit on the HealthInfoNet Board of Directors and will be invited to serve on a standing committee made up of consumers.

Under the contract announced by HHS, Maine will join other states in identifying variations in current privacy and security practices and laws affecting electronic clinical information-sharing. This work will lead to the development of best practices and proposed solutions that will allow information-sharing to take place. It also is expected to build expertise about health information privacy and security protection in communities across the state. Solutions that will be crafted on identification of privacy and security issues will provide a foundation for future work by the federal government and facilitate health information exchange across states.

“States and territories have a critical role in working with the health care industry and consumers so that health information continues to be appropriately protected as we move forward into the digital era of medicine,” said HHS Acting Deputy National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Dr. Karen Bell, who played a key role in launching the HealthInfoNet process while working in Maine in 2004. “This effort to partner with states and territories will ensure that the health care system serves consumers’ needs and meets the President’s goal for health information technology.”

The HHS Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) is tasked with coordinating federal health IT programs across executive branch agencies, as well as coordinating with the private sector on its health IT efforts. Information about the ONC is available at www.hhs.gov/healthit.

Maine Selected for Model State RHIO Project

HealthInfoNet has been selected to serve as a model for other states that are planning to develop electronic clinical information-sharing systems.

Maine is one of nine states chosen for the study. The other states include: California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Utah.

Funded by the federal government's Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC), the study will gather information from nine existing statewide Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). This information will be used to determine successful governance, financial and operational characteristics, health information exchange policies and short and long term priorities. Through a steering committee made up of representatives from the participating states, the study will develop consensus for best practices for statewide clinical information-sharing systems and disseminate these findings throughout the nation. Products from the project will be displayed on the project's web site, www.staterhio.org.

The study is being coordinated by the American Health Information Management Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Project staff visited Maine earlier this month to be briefed by HealthInfoNet representatives about how the system has been developed over the past two years. HealthInfoNet will participate in key project meetings in Chicago and Washington, D.C. before finalizing a report and recommendations by early September 2006.

Innovative Statewide Health Information Project Receives $1 Million Challenge Grant and New Leadership

Plans to build an innovative electronic health information network received two major boosts in recent days, bringing Maine closer to its goal of becoming one of the first states in the nation to develop a comprehensive, coordinated statewide system.

The developments for the project, known as HealthInfoNet, include:

• A $1 million dollar challenge grant from the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF);
   
• Recruiting Devore S. Culver, a highly-regarded health information technology expert with strong Maine ties, as HealthInfoNet's first Executive Director.

"All of this is tremendous news for HealthInfoNet and for the people of Maine," said HealthInfoNet Board of Directors Chair Charles E. Hewett, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. "This system will improve health care by giving doctors and other clinicians the most current and comprehensive information about their patients, no matter where that information exists or where treatment is delivered. We're proud to attract an executive director of Dev Culver's caliber. And thanks to critical financial support from MeHAF and others, Maine will remain at the forefront among states seeking to achieve these ambitious and important goals."

Devore Culver served as Chief Information Officer at Eastern Maine Healthcare in Bangor for 16 years before leaving Maine in 2004 to assume senior positions at two national healthcare information technology firms.

HealthInfoNet is the second phase of a system originally known as the Maine Health Information Network Technology (or MHINT) project. The vision driving HealthInfoNet is the development of a cutting-edge, statewide network giving authorized health care professionals and treatment centers immediate, secure access to a patient's health records. Once the system is in place, with patients' consent, health providers will be able to instantly access critical information. The system will include rigorous protections to ensure the highest level of patient privacy and overall security.

"HealthInfoNet has great potential to enhance the health status of all people in Maine ," explained incoming Executive Director Devore Culver, who will begin his new duties on June 5. "A coordinated health records system will help improve the quality and efficiency of how we deliver health care, reduce medical errors, and control costs. I'm thrilled to be returning to Maine to lead this effort and appreciate the funding we've received to jump start the next phase of the project."

HealthInfoNet is now midway through an extensive planning and development process that began in May, 2005. Intensive work is now taking place to begin pilot projects in 2007 and statewide implementation to take place by 2010.

"The challenge grant represents a major financial commitment from the MeHAF Board that builds on our previous support. The successful implementation of HealthInfoNet can truly transform our fragmented health care system," observed President and CEO Wendy Wolf, M.D. M.P.H.

"MeHAF will help spur the fundraising effort to implement the HealthInfoNet's first demonstration pilot by providing up to $1 million in matching funds for all contributions received by HealthInfoNet from May 2006 to December 2007. This $1 million grant represents one of MeHAF's largest awards since the Foundation began making grants in 2002 and is the first challenge grant."

Dr. Wolf added, "Although MeHAF is Maine's largest health care foundation, we're always looking to apply each dollar wisely. This challenge grant is a good example of how MeHAF can leverage resources to push ambitious strategic and large scale change. Focusing on system change and root causes represent our best hope for dramatically improving health in Maine, particularly for our most vulnerable residents."

Under development since mid-2004, HealthInfoNet is an independent, nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors that includes physicians, healthcare executives, employers, consumers, government officials and public health leaders. Over the next eighteen months, several pilot projects will be launched to begin the process of full, statewide implementation. Preliminary estimates suggest the initial pilot projects will cost $4 million - $8 million. A total of $17 million -$29 million will be needed over five years to build and implement HealthInfoNet at the statewide level.

Prior to receiving these new awards, the project raised $1.5 million in two years from private foundations, state and federal government agencies, hospital systems, a health insurer, a nonprofit health data organization and a financial services institution.

HealthInfoNet currently is managed by the Maine Health Information Center, an independent statewide nonprofit health data research organization based in Manchester, Maine.

Devore Culver served as Chief Information Officer at Eastern Maine Healthcare in Bangor for 16 years. He is one of Maine's most experienced health information technology leaders, and was appointed by Governor Angus King to the State's Information Systems Advisory Board and the Governor's Task Force on Y2K readiness. He also co-chaired the Governor's Task Force on Telemedicine. In 2004 he relocated to Rhode Island to serve in senior management for national companies focused on electronic clinical information-sharing. Culver, holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University and a graduate degree in healthcare management from Northwestern University.

After leaving Eastern Maine Healthcare in 2004, Culver joined Eclipsys Corporation in Boston and later Cerner Corporation, where he served as a senior manager responsible for the installation of advanced clinical information systems software and the delivery of consulting services to healthcare clients in a multi-state region of the U.S.

At Eastern Maine Healthcare, Culver:

• Established the strategy for state of art picture archival communication system (PACS) for four rural Maine hospitals;
• Reduced medication errors and cut associated medication costs through the development of clinical decision-support, medication order and administration management systems.
• Initiated new technology designed to enhance access to clinical data and medical records across the Eastern Maine Healthcare system;
• Developed telemedicine service for delivery of psychological assessment and consultation;
• Instituted a business plan, delivering clinical information to physician offices in eastern and northern Maine.

The Maine Health Access Foundation (www.mehaf.org), created in 2000, is the state's largest health care foundation. MeHAF's mission is to promote affordable and timely access to comprehensive, quality health care and improve the health of every Maine resident. In particular, MeHAF targets strategies that serve the uninsured and medically underserved

Founded in 1976, the Maine Health Information Center (www.mhic.org) is Maine's primary nonprofit health data research organization. The MHIC has been involved in quality improvement and information-sharing initiatives and has managed HealthInfoNet since the project began with an initial feasibility study in 2004. HealthInfoNet will continue to be based at the MHIC's Manchester, Maine offices through 2006.

Submit questions to info@hinfonet.org

Last modified Monday, 04-Feb-2008 15:58:44 EST