Nebraska, Idaho HIEs pick health record-sharing system

Two statewide health information exchanges -- in Nebraska and Idaho -- have each picked technology from Axolotl Inc. to link their individual physicians, hospitals and labs.The Nebraska Health Information Initiative, a statewide health information organization, will use Axolotl’s Elysium Exchange to deploy a HIE. Infrastructure work is underway and a pilot program is expected to begin as early as October, according to Glenn Keet, Axolotl’s senior vice president of sales.The Idaho Health Data Exchange, the state’s first statewide HIE, will also use Elysium Exchange.Axolotl provides browser-based products and services for health information exchange and management. The San Jose, Calif., company markets its Elysium solutions to HIEs, regional health information organizations, hospitals, integrated delivery networks and physicians among other customers.In the Nebraska pilot, Axolotl will link several Omaha hospitals, clinics, physician offices, radiology centers, references labs and pharmacies. The pilot will involve the exchange of lab results, radiology reports, transcribed reports, and admissions/discharge/transfer information. Prescription, allergy, immunization, and demographic data will be exchanged as well.Keet said he anticipates that the pilot will include three hospitals, all pharmacies in Nebraska connected via the SureScripts network, medication history from RxHub, about 100 physicians across numerous practices, at least one reference lab, and Blue Cross of Nebraska. He said pilot participation hasn’t been finalized, however.The Nebraska HIE will be rolled out to other health care entities in the state upon completion of the pilot. Keet said the length of the pilot is undetermined, but may take anywhere from three to six months.The Idaho Health Data Exchange, meanwhile, will connect more than 1,500 Idaho physicians, 30 hospitals and 10 reference labs across the state for the sharing of clinical information. The organization was created in January as a non-profit Idaho corporation.The exchange “is an online system that has been developed to provide the secure electronic exchange of health information between physicians, hospitals, health insurance providers, clinical service facilities and patients,” according to the organization’s Web site.