Minnesota Task Force Eyes Centralized HIE Services

On a frosty Jan. 31 in Minnesota, a task force met to continue its work of reaching consensus on recommendations to the state e-Health advisory committee on how to improve health information exchange in the state. One topic under consideration is the development of centralized services, including a provider directory, patient-matching solution and a routing mechanism between health information organizations (HIOs).

Minnesota has had great success in EHR and e-prescribing adoption, but it chose initially not to create a state-designated HIE body and instead decided to certify private HIOs. That led to some gaps in coverage. An earlier Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) study ordered by the Legislature recommended moving to a “connected networks” approach that would provide essential HIE services to all stakeholders statewide and to align with and build upon national HIE initiatives and networks.

The task force must make its recommendations by May 2019. One key issue it is grappling with is how to expand exchange of clinical information to support care transitions between