Central Illinois Health Information Exchange (CIHIE)

The Central Illinois Health Information Exchange covers 20 counties in the Peoria, Bloomington, Champaign, and Decatur areas. Eleven organizations are Charter Members of the exchange and include Methodist Medical Center of Illinois, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Decatur Memorial Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital in Streator, Easter Seals, Advocate Bromenn Medical Center in Normal, the Human Service Center, St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur, Proctor Hospital, Heartland Community Health Clinic, and the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.

"It is wonderful to have these organizations involved in the formative development of the Central Illinois HIE," says Dr. Gail Amundson, President and CEO of Quality Quest."

What is an HIE?

Health information exchange is the process of securely sharing patient information from electronic medical records, insurance claims and other sources, such as prescribing information, in an electronic format between healthcare providers. For example, an HIE makes it possible for a physician, with patient permission, to have access to a patient's complete health history during an office visit. If tests are conducted at three different hospitals and a physician office, the physician will be able to see all the results from participating organizations.

The combined population that would be served by an HIE in central Illinois is more than 1,300,000 people. There are many HIE eligible participants in our region, including:

• 27 hospitals
• 20 health departments
• 2800+ physicians
• 281+ pharmacies
• 12+ imaging services and laboratories
• Many ancillary healthcare providers such as rehabilitation centers, behavioral healthcare, long-term care facilities, and nursing homes.

The counties represented in a central Illinois HIE are: Champaign, Coles, De Witt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Fulton, Knox, Livingston, Macon, Marshall, McLean, Moultrie, Peoria, Piatt, Shelby, Stark, Tazewell, Vermillion, and Woodford.

How does it work? Think Expedia.

An HIE works in a similar way as airline travel sites such as Expedia or Travelocity. A vacationer enters a destination and date and the travel site immediately pulls all the available flight information from different airlines. Likewise, a physician enters a patient's name and the HIE record locator immediately pulls the individual's health information from different health providers and makes it easy to view on a computer screen in a matter of seconds.

What are the benefits to patient care?

Sharing medical information between healthcare providers enhances coordination between caregivers and helps make patient care better. HIE helps prevent duplication of services and it helps lower medical errors. It means X-rays and lab tests do not need to be repeated because the results are unavailable. It also helps make a complex system less confusing for patients and families. It means everyone involved in a patient's care has the information they need. Other benefits include reducing health disparities, reducing paper, and helping control rapidly escalating healthcare costs.

What's happening in central Illinois?

Quality Quest facilitated an 18-month HIE planning process beginning in 2009 for the central Illinois region as the result of three state grants from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. More than 180 people across 20 counties contributed an estimated 664 hours per month of volunteer time. In June of 2010, Quality Quest submitted a final plan to the State of Illinois reflecting the region's direction with respect to establishing a Health Information Exchange system for Central Illinois. Those recommendations were integrated into the State's plan which was submitted to the Office of National Coordinator in July 2010.

Specifically, the Central Illinois plan outlined the region's plans for:

• The type of information to be exchanged – including such important data elements as medication history, diagnoses, allergies, test results, etc. across traditional organizational boundaries;
• The type of technology that would be utilized – creating a system which would allow for secure, real-time viewing of healthcare information by authorized healthcare providers;
• How the exchange would be governed – utilizing a not-for-profit structure, established under the auspices of Quality Quest for Health of Illinois, and providing Board opportunities for diverse stakeholders;
• How the exchange would be funded – focusing on subscription services that are affordable and offer significant value.

The Central Illinois Health Information Exchange was created and implemented in 2010-2011.  Visit the CIHIE website at www.cihie.org.

About the HIE Project

Quality Quest received three one-year grants from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) to coordinate health information exchange (HIE) planning for the Peoria, Bloomington and Decatur areas. A fourth grant, to the Champaign/Urbana Public Health District, will be used, in part, to pay Quest for managing their planning process. The three grants to Quality Quest total $529,688.

HIE is the use of electronic medical records and e-prescribing to assist medical providers in understanding a patient's full medical history. HIE enables the exchange of clinical and administrative data among providers to:

• Improve healthcare quality and outcomes
• Reduce health disparities
• Reduce medical errors and duplicative services
• Enhance coordination of patient care among providers
• Reduce or eliminate paper
• Control the cost of healthcare

On February 4, 2009, Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 1132 into law, appropriating $3 million to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to establish a program for health information exchange planning. The state is divided into 16 Medical Trading Areas (MTA), with each area being awarded one grant. The HFS website is http://www.hie.illinois.gov/.

Click here for HIE Planning Fact Sheet.

Click here for grants announcement press release.

Click here to view the Medical Trading Areas map.