San Diego County Launches Regional Health Information Organization
San Diego County formally has launched the San Diego Medical Information Network Exchange, a regional health information organization aimed at improving health care for the county's three million residents and reducing costs for its 10,000 health care professionals, Government Health IT reports.
The county will implement the system in phases, beginning with credentialing programs and linking emergency departments to provide a broader safety net for the uninsured. Emergency department staff will be able to use the network, called SD MINE, to identify primary care physicians at other facilities that could treat patients.
Other implementation phases will include a clinical messaging system to track hospitalized patients, a link to immunization and diabetes registries, and a Web portal for patients to learn about eligibility, billing and resource issues (Robinson, Government Health IT, 10/3).