Virginia Providers Integrate Two Health Data Exchange Models

Three healthcare organizations in Virginia have demonstrated how small practices can share patient data through simple Internet connections and then hand the data to more technology sophisticated groups for expanded exchange.

The pilot was one of the first to integrate two methods for health information exchange sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, according to an announcement.

One of those methods, the Direct Project, enables providers to perform simple “push” exchanges with other providers or labs, while the NwHIN Exchange allows for complex sharing among primarily large healthcare organizations.

In the pilot, Dominion Medical Associates, a small, independent physician practice in Richmond, Va., scanned paper patient records of diabetes patients and sent them via the Internet to CenVaNet, a large healthcare provider network in central Virginia, using its physician portal.