Online assessment tool helps state's providers determine HIE readiness

Providers in West Virginia now can assess their readiness for connecting to the state's health information exchange, thanks to an online tool developed by the West Virginia Health Information Network. The tool, according to a recent announcement, will provide WVHIN with that readiness information.

"The survey helps the WVHIN understand the providers' connectivity goals, baseline their [electronic health record] system capability to connect to the WVHIN and to gather general information about their organization," WVHIN Business Development Manager Amber Nary said in the announcement.

Providers will be required to provide background, technical and organization data, according to a recent EHR Intelligence article. The tool's launch comes one week after WVHIN and the West Virginia Health Care Authority announced a grant program to provide financial help to early HIE adopters within the state, the article also reported.

To date, only four hospitals in the state are participating in the HIE, all of which went live last year.

Health information exchange has been a particularly hot topic for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT over the past few weeks. Earlier this week, the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees held a joint meeting in Washington, D.C., that included several providers and health IT stakeholders in which opportunities and barriers to HIE implementation were discussed.

Additionally, five recently released reports sponsored by ONC aim to increase understanding of HIEs for policymakers and researchers involved in the implementation of related efforts.

For more information:
- read the announcement
- check out the EHR Intelligence article
- view the WVHIN map