The Erie County Health Department partnered with HealtheLink in 2011 to access the HealtheLink repository of patient data in order to obtain demographic and treatment information for patients with positive lab results. The New York State Health Department provides reports to local health departments on positive lab results that require public health follow-up. Erie County Health Department uses the HealtheLink master patient index (MPI) to locate cases and clinical information to verify patient treatment. HealtheLink provides primary and alternate contacts along with alternate phone numbers from their MPI. Using the HealtheLink virtual health record, Erie County Health Department can confirm the disease diagnosis, review pending labs and lab results, view radiology results, and evaluate a full clinical picture of a patient’s course of illness. In the first six months of 2015, the Erie County Health Department made 20,000 queries to the HealtheLink virtual patient record.

The Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) receives ADT messages for emergency room visits and hospital admissions and discharges statewide. Payers and providers can subscribe to these messages for their members and patients. Alerts are sent in real-time using Direct messaging or secure file transfer. Payers and providers can specify the patient cohorts for which they would like to receive alerts. Obstetricians are using the alerts to monitor discharges for maternity patients to support timely postpartum care. A payer uses alerts on ED visits by asthma patients to contact the patient to ensure that they have medication for the routine treatment of their chronic condition. Behavioral health providers receive alerts on hospital admissions for their high-risk patients to enable them to arrange care while the patient is in the hospital. UHIN sends over 12,000 alerts each month.

The Nebraska Health Information Exchange (NeHII) receives notifications of patient hospital admissions and discharges using HL7 ADT messages. These messages are used to generate notification to support PCPs, hospitals, and care givers from home health agencies. NeHII provides the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Omaha with daily alerts of hospital admissions and discharges for their patients. VNA receives approximately 400 notifications per week for patients enrolled in their services. This service has increased the efficiency of intake processing, reduced time spent by VNA calling hospitals, and enabled more timely follow-up with patients.

Sutter Health initiated a home monitoring program for high-risk patients with heart disease and hypertension. Patients referred to the program receive assistance from a nurse in downloading an app to their phone that connects via Bluetooth to monitoring devices, e.g., blood pressure monitors. The devices check blood pressure, weight, and activity. The data is transmitted to Validic where it is standardized and integrated into Sutter’s EHR to create smart alerts to the patient’s provider.

Greater Houston Healthconnect is collaborating with the City of Houston Fire Department in an innovative First Responders program, which is the first of its kind in the United States.

Funded by the California Healthcare Foundation, this eHI report examines how eHealth tools can support chronic disease management among socially disadvantaged populations. Four domains of technology are reviewed – telehealth, mobile health, patient web portals, and social media – in the context of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

For ten years, eHealth Initiative has tracked the growth and progress of healthcare data exchange efforts across the US. Results from the 2013 Annual Survey on Health Information Exchange are available now. The 2013 survey covers nearly 200 respondents and demonstrates ongoing challenges related to sustainability, interoperability, and patient engagement.