Virginia, Hawaii HIEs Take Shape with Direct Messaging

State health Information Exchanges got a boost in Hawaii and Virginia.

Virginia’s statewide health information exchange, ConnectVirginia, will launch Feb. 17 its first stage with secure messaging using Direct Project protocols for sharing data between two enrolled physicians. They may exchange health information, including Continuity of Care Documents, lab results, dictated reports, discharge summaries and scanned documents...

...Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie and the Hawaii Health Information Exchange (HIE), meanwhile, signed an agreement on how to deploy and start operating the statewide health information network so providers can share patient data and meet meaningful use requirements.

Hawaii HIE has selected Medicity, a health IT provider, to build the exchange in phases, starting with secure messaging based on Direct Project protocols for sharing health data between two providers and a referral application functions to indicate what type of information they prefer when receiving a referred patient...