By not connecting, two competing health information exchanges in Kansas risk losing $1 million in grant funding and their operating licenses, according to a report from the Kansas Health Institute.
Currently, the Lewis and Clark Health Information Exchange is concentrated in the Kansas City area, and the Kansas Health Information Network covers most of the rest of the state. The two exchanges were given a year to connect by the state regulatory authority, and face a looming Sept. 30 deadline.
In addition to potentially costing both operating licenses and $1 million in federal funding, the disconnect between the two HIEs also costs Kansas patients a higher level of care, said Aaron Dunkel, head of regulatory body KanHIT, part of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
"The day-to-day data that is collected," he said, according to the report, "at this point just isn't available during transitions of care or referrals from a KHIN provider to a LACIE provider, or vice versa. They still have access to the paper record format, but we're just not receiving that benefit yet of being able to do that transition of care or being able to do that referral through electronic means."
More Articles on HIEs:
Statewide HIE Coming Soon to Wisconsin
Statewide HIE Opens in Missouri
Massachusetts HIE Growing, Has Facilitated 1.35M Transactions