Altarum Wins Planning Grant for Health Information Exchange

To: TECHNOLOGY EDITORS

Contact: Jeff Moore of Altarum Institute, +1-703-575-1685, jeff.moore@altarum.org

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Altarum Institute today announced that in partnership with more than 40 Michigan organizations, it has been awarded a grant from the state of Michigan to lead the planning process for a Health Information Exchange (HIE) in southeast Michigan.

HIEs are at different levels of maturity across the country. For the past two years, a dedicated working group, including the “Detroit 3″ automotive manufacturers, the Wayne and Oakland County Medical Societies, Greater Detroit Area Health Council, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and the Henry Ford, Oakwood, Trinity and St. John Health Systems have engaged in exploratory discussions regarding an HIE for southeast Michigan.

Altarum was asked to serve as an objective facilitator and subject matter expert in mid-2006. The new funding from the state of Michigan, which supports multiple HIE efforts across the state, will allow this exploratory process to mature into concrete planning and development activities.

“The goal of the HIE concept is to facilitate access to, and retrieval of, clinical data to provide safer, more effective, equitable and patient-centered care,” said Janet Olszewski, Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health.

The HIE in southeast Michigan will advance the implementation of an integrated, interoperable health information exchange across the state, supporting the information needs of physicians, health systems and hospitals, patients, employers and insurers.

A functioning HIE in southeast Michigan will benefit all stakeholders in the region, including local residents. Because better use of health information technology makes the delivery of health care more cost efficient, it is expected that the state’s business economy will benefit as well.

“With these grants, Michigan is taking a real step forward as a health information technology leader,” said Altarum President and CEO Linc Smith. “As health systems researchers, we are always seeking ways to develop and deliver new tools that help health care providers and health care users make better, timelier decisions. The HIE for southeast Michigan has the potential to make that promise a reality for more than 40 percent of Michigan’s population. It could have an enormous impact, and we are proud to have a central role.”

Based on recommendations from a December 2006 Michigan Health Information Network report, the state has provided more than $4.5 million to create a statewide infrastructure for health care information exchange. The initial Altarum grant for its work on the Southeast Michigan Health Information Exchange that covers Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair and Monroe counties is $658,356.

Altarum assists federal and state clients in developing IT policies, requirements, software, data standards, and cross-agency interfaces. Since 2005, Altarum also has provided ongoing policy and program management support to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC-HHS) and the American Health Information Community (AHIC). The AHIC, chartered by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, was created to accelerate the development and adoption of health information technology across the nation.

Altarum Institute (http://www.altarum.org) is a nonprofit research institution headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. Altarum is working to become the nation’s preeminent provider of health systems research, analysis and consulting services.

SOURCE Altarum Institute

(c) 2007 U.S. Newswire. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.