Kaiser Permanente Part of Health Data Sharing Project

Five large health care systems -- Geisinger Health System, Group Health Cooperative, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente and Mayo Clinic -- have launched a nationwide project to share patient data in an effort to improve patient care. The Care Connectivity Consortium also aims to ensure the privacy and security of patients' information and use national standards in the exchange of medical data. The groups expect some data sharing to begin within a year.

• "Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, Three Other Top Health Systems Form 'Connectivity Consortium'" (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 4/6).
• "Mayo, Geisinger, Kaiser Part of New Data Exchange Initiative" (Barr, Modern Healthcare, 4/6).
• "Big Medical Groups Begin Patient Data Sharing Project" (Lohr, "Bits," New York Times, 4/6).