State Starts Health Records Bank Pilots

HDM Breaking News, March 17, 2009

The Washington State Health Care Authority has launched three pilot projects to test the feasibility of health records banks.

The pilots will take place in Bellingham with St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and The Critical Junctures Institute; in Cashmere with Community Choice Healthcare Network; and in Spokane with Inland Northwest Health Services.

The sponsoring organizations will serve as trusted entities controlling a health records bank, which is seen as an alternative type of health information exchange. Under the model, a health records bank collects a patient's paper and electronic medical records from physicians, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and other sources. Patients have control over who accesses their data. A health records bank generally would be funded through account fees charged to individuals or sponsors, such as a provider organization or health plan.

In Washington, the sponsors received a total of $1.7 million in state grants for the pilots, so there is no initial cost for consumers. Sponsors hope to enroll 18,000 residents, says Juan Alaniz, project manager at the Washington State Health Care Authority. One goal of the pilots is to determine the feasibility of a financial model, such as charging fees, seeking employer sponsorships or other options, he adds.

The sponsors have built technology platforms to connect health data holders to the banks and sort and organize the data. Consumers will use personal health records and related tools from Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault to view their data, enter additional information and share it.

The Washington State Health Care Authority expects to make available in July a preliminary evaluation summary of the pilots. More information is available at hca.wa.gov/hit.

--Joseph Goedert

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