Now connected to eHealth Exchange, HIE Networks and its clients can now connect to over 75 percent of hospitals across the country.

The nation’s largest health information exchange (HIE), eHealth Exchange, made its first vendor connection, HIE Networks. eHealth Exchange connects to approximately 75 percent of all US hospitals, over 60 regional or state HIEs, and four government agencies. HIE Networks is a health IT and communications vendor that provides HIE services to its customers,  and its connection with eHealth Exchange will allow for a significant expansion of its footprint.

“We thank HIE Networks for pioneering this new connection type, in which the vendor becomes a participant in the network themselves, bringing expanded connectivity to their customers and members.” “Since its inception, the eHealth Exchange network has worked closely with vendors like Cerner and Epic to ensure their customers benefit from health information exchange,” Jay Nakashima, executive director of eHealth Exchange, said in a statement.

“HIE Networks was eager to be the first healthcare technology vendor to directly connect to the eHealth Exchange,” said Zach Finn, CEO of HIE Networks. “Our unique philosophy allows HIE Networks to provide both the technical connection as a vendor and, the often more challenging to complete, the HIPAA HITECH privacy and security legal paperwork required to share patient records for our customers.”

“We will begin rolling out this nationwide interoperability to our HIE Networks participants regionally, statewide and nationally to enable secure patient record access during natural disasters, such as hurricanes and pandemics, and to serve the transient snow bird population, who frequently have their medical history spread throughout healthcare providers across the country,” concluded Finn.