Maine has kicked off a statewide 15-hospital health information exchange that will involve more than 2,000 clinicians, or more than one-third of the practicing physicians in the state.

The demonstration involved three years of planning, development and testing its data exchange platform, which includes technologies from Orion Health, 3M Health Information Systems and DrFirst Inc.

Hospitals will supply most of the data traveling over the new HIE, HealthInfoNet, in the form of a standards-based Continuity of Care Record. The record will include demographics, conditions, diagnoses or problems, prescription medications, lab results and dictated documents.

To date, HIE proponents in the state have raised about $8 million to build HealthInfoNet, including $1.7 million from the state government, and a matching federal grant made possible by the stimulus act. The HIE also received $3 million from a foundation, $600,000 from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and $1.2 million from the hospitals themselves.

To learn more about the project:
- read this Health Data Management piece

Related Articles:
Study: More providers joining HIEs
Joint Commission calls for national HIE
Study: RHIOs/HIEs backed by states will win
Report offers HIE keys to survival