A group of 19 HIEs has founded the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative to present a single voice from the industry to policymakers.
The collaborative, a nonprofit trade association, also launched a website and named Robert Steffel, the former CEO of Cincinnati-based HealthBridge, as its executive director. Dick Thompson, the executive director of Quality Health Network in Grand Junction, Colo., was appointed to the position of board chair of SHIEC, according to a news release.
The collaborative aims to promote the improvement of business conditions and the sustainability of HIEs, educate public and private entities on the benefits, functions and roles of HIEs and have a role in influencing legislation related to HIEs, according to the group's website.
The founding members include:
∙ Arizona Health-e Connection in Phoenix
∙ etHIN in Knoxville, Tenn.
∙ Greater Dayton (Ohio) Area Health Information Network
∙ HealtheConnections RHIO Central NY in Syracuse
∙ HEALTHeLINK – Western NY in Buffalo
∙ Healthix in New York City
∙ HealthLINC in Bloomington, Ind.
∙ HealthlinkNY in Binghamton, N.Y.
∙ HealthShare Exchange of SE Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
∙ Indiana Health Information Exchange in Indianapolis
∙ Nebraska Health Information Initiative in Omaha
∙ NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City
∙ Quality Health Network in Grand Junction, Colo.
∙ Rochester NY RHIO in Rochester, N.Y.
∙ Santa Cruz HIE in Scotts Valley, Calif.
∙ Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital
∙ The Health Collaborative (formerly HealthBridge) in Cincinnati
∙ Utah Health Information Network in Murray
∙ Western Connecticut Health Network in Bethel