“We can predict who will show up in the emergency department in the next 12 months,” he said, adding that the
the model has very reliable accuracy that is validated quarterly. The data can show who is trending toward a
disease, based on shifts in the patient’s test results over a period of time. Care managers can spot patients who
are doing all right but are headed in the wrong direction clinically. The data is current—never more than 24
hours old, Culver said—something vital in healthcare.
St. Joseph Healthcare in Bangor has been using the data to manage its 30-day readmission rate and its 30-day
return-to-the-emergency-department rate, Culver said.
The data can make predictions across a population too, so that a health system could contract with a large
employer to provide healthcare and be able to set a price for those services.
HealthInfoNet is unique to Maine. While other states have health information exchanges, Maine's is the most
robust, Culver said. The germination of HealthInfoNet began more than a decade ago, years before the federal
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) was passed in 2009 to
stimulate the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and supporting technology. That legislation provided
funding to help support HealthInfoNet well after the project was underway.
It began as a project called the Maine Health Information Network Technology in 2004. Four groups, including
the Maine Health Access Foundation, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maine Quality
Forum and the Maine Health Information Center, came together to determine if Maine was ready to develop a
single patient health record across competing healthcare organizations. The study found strong support amongst
healthcare providers and other stakeholders.
“Hospitals were pretty key in driving the creation of this thing,” Culver said. It required some courage on the
part of those hospitals, because, in some cases, competitors were agreeing to share information with each other.
The project was fairly overwhelming. To create a true health exchange, they had to take data from multiple
sources and standardize it.
“We’re the only structure that sees the patient across all environments,” Culver said. One of the subscribers, a
large cardiology practice, looks up the records of each patient coming in the next day. The records include lab
reports, hospital discharge summaries, specialist reports and medication. This information is uploaded directly
into the patient record, so the doctor has it all at his or her fingertips during the appointment.
HealthInfoNet
"Hospitals were pretty key in driving the creation of
(HealthInfoNet)."
