States are showing signs of life when it comes to promoting regional health information organizations and other health data exchanges, according to preliminary results of a 165-program survey. Washington-based eHealth Initiative, an advocacy group, surveyed health data exchange programs in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It found that twenty-four states have enacted legislation to facilitate data exchange initiatives, such as forming a task force to study issues or authorizing creation of a strategy.
Thirty-eight states are participating in dialogue with other stakeholders on data exchange initiatives, with 21 states actually convening stakeholders and being actively engaged. For instance, 16 states provide staff in a project management role and 17 help fund regional or local date exchange projects, according to the survey.
For more information on the study:
- see this article from Health Data Management
- and the eHealth Initiative's Web site