Georgia HIE Experiences Rapid Growth

By Julia Ernst, contributing writer

In the past six months, the organization has seen a 450 percent increase in data sources providing information and a 250% increase in system usage.

The Georgia Regional Academic Community Health Information Exchange (GRAChIE), an organization that connects EHRs for nearly one million patients at 11 different healthcare facilities in the state, has experience rapid expansion in the past six months.

In that time, the number of data sources providing information through the GRAChIE network has grown by 450 percent. In addition to the increase in the number of data sources providing information through the network, system usage of GRAChIE has increased 250 percent in the past six months.

GRAChIE allows caregivers from different hospitals and doctors’ offices to share medical information about patients. With a patient’s approval, doctors and nurses at different institutions who participate in GRAChIE can share medical information about allergies, medications, lab results, and more with other providers. The organization is designed to connect a variety of healthcare organizations, from large health systems to rural, critical-access hospitals to small physician practices.

GRAChIE was formed by one health information technology (IT) supplier, Cerner Corp., and two major health systems, GRHealth and Navicent Health. Technology from Cerner allows GRAChIE to connect different organizations to one another to electronically share information, regardless of the EHR systems they use.

“HIEs are most needed in rural areas around the country,” said Tara Cramer, executive director, GRAChIE System. “Here in Georgia, seventy miles is a very common commute for a patient in one health system. Now, no matter where the patient is, their medical records are at the provider's fingertips. We want to be an interoperability broker for providers. We want to offer healthcare shops the tools they need to achieve strategies from patient-centered medical homes to ACOs to Meaningful Use. I'm confident in the solid foundation of Cerner’s solution and in the innovations they're delivering to continue to advance the future of GRAChIE.”

SOURCE: Globe Newswire