NwHIN Exchange -- Impressive success

The NwHIN Exchange continues to progress, and is now released from some of the previous shackles. I know that this is posted on the HHS site - Nationwide Health Information Exchange. I just think that more people need to recognize just how BIG this is.

Current Participants (as of 12/05/2011):

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) End Stage Renal Disease Center
• Community Health Information Collaborative (CHIC) 
• Department of Defense
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Douglas County Individual Practice Association (DCIPA) 
• EHR Doctors 
• HealthBridge 
• Inland Northwest Health Services 
• Kaiser Permanente 
• Marshfield Clinic 
• MedVirginia 
• MultiCare Health System 
• North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communication Alliance, Inc. (NCHICA) 
• OCHIN 
• Regenstrief Institute 
• Social Security Administration
• South Carolina Health Information Exchange 
• South East Michigan Health Information Exchange 
• University of California, San Diego 
• University of California, San Diego Beacon Community 
• Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) 
• Western New York Clinical Information Exchange 
• Wright State University 

There are plenty of organizations that have expressed interest in joining. Right now the queue is simply too much work to get through. They are onboarding as fast as they can. I totally agree with being very careful to assure governance is in place. From what I know the list includes:

Organizations in Process of Joining

• Alabama’s One Health Record
• Alaska HIE
• Catholic Healthcare West
• Central Alabama HIE
• Conemaugh Health System
• Idaho Health Data Exchange
• Indian Health Services 
• Indiana State Department of Health
• New Mexico Health Information Collaborative (NMHIC)
• Louisiana HIE
• Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
• National Renal Administrators Association (NRAA)
• North Carolina HIE
• Pensacola
• Quality Health Network
• Redwood MedNet
• Health Information Partnership for Tennessee (HIP-TN)

Further, there are Regional Exchange Centers (REC) that are using the same technology. And some of these have been connecting while they were waiting for approval into the NwHIN-Exchange. Look for signs of this at the HIMSS conference next week. You will be surprised at just how far maturity has gone. 

I am so glad that ONC has finally recognized the NwHIN-Exchange. I hold out hope that in the next hours or days we will receive Meaningful Use stage 2 rules that recognize this as well. I like Direct, but I only like it for the original scope of replacing a FAX machine for very small doctor office. A mature system that protects integrity, privacy, and security is far better; and this is what we built into the NwHIN Exchange. An extensible system that takes care of 80% today with room for expansion.