State HIEs Wrangle with Thorny 'Patient Consent' Issue

Oregon and Illinois are two states that will launch their initial health information exchange core services in early 2012. Both states will shortly publish contractor proposals to help them develop the systems and databases they will need to support their health information exchanges (HIE).

For Oregon, a vendor will set up a provider directory at the individual and entity level, which will also include a certificate authority, and a statewide health information service provider to offer Direct Project addresses to any state provider or consumer for free, said Carol Robinson, state coordinator for health IT, Oregon Health Authority.

Oregon will onramp its exchange participants with messaging services using Direct protocols, which are secure email designed for simple exchanges between providers or between a provider and a patient. "We’re considering that as our gateway to the health information exchange. We think that this will help providers begin to experience some of the value of HIE, but we know it’s not enough,” Robinson said June 23 at a state healthcare IT conference.