The Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), online for the past two weeks, will deliver lab test results, radiology reports, and admission, discharge and transfer reports to the participants -- three hospital systems, five doctors' practices with 30 offices and 70 physicians among them, and LabCorp. More users will be added while the next phase -- a record locator system -- is developed.
DHIN should reduce unnecessary medical tests, and delays and paperwork associated with lab and radiology reports.
The network will deliver all lab results, regardless of where they originate, in the same standard format. The reports can be delivered by fax or e-mail or transferred into a provider's e-health records system.
About 30 percent of Delaware physicians have electronic medical records, an above-average percentage. However, they need only a PC running Microsoft Windows and a high-speed Internet connection to use DHIN services.
A $4.7 million grant from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, $2 million from state government and $2 million from the three hospital systems, LabCorp and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware paid for the paid.
Our local pride notwithstanding, being the first out the gate on a model system with a potential for invasion of patient privacy through failed or faulty communication requires a commitment to get it right from the beginning.
We take some comfort in another recent news event. Just before DHIN went live, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology signed a $800,000 contract to identify the best practices for successful state-level health information exchanges.
As our moniker plainly attests, Delaware is the First State because of its willingness to capitalize on its small size, and in this case, to test out publicly a policy shift with far-reaching benefits for two important groups of citizens -- the doctor and the patient. It's nice to be No. 1.
Quelle/Source: Delaware online, 11.04.2007
