All of Colorado’s Large Hospitals Now Participating in Health Information Exchange

Exempla Healthcare signs on to be a CORHIO HIE participant; now all Colorado hospitals with more than 100 licensed beds are now connected or are in the process to connect to an HIE network

Exempla Healthcare’s three hospitals will connect to the CORHIO HIE as a result of a recently executed agreement. Exempla Healthcare, an affiliate of SCL Health System, operates Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, and Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver.

SCL Health System also operates St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in Grand Junction, which is connected to the Quality Health Network (QHN) HIE. QHN, based out of Grand Junction and serving the Western Slope, has a total of 11 hospitals connected and two in process to connect.

“Partnering with CORHIO allows our Denver care sites to share and access the electronic medical records of patients with other Colorado facilities and clinicians who are participants with CORHIO," says Dave Pecoraro, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at SCL Health System. “Not only does partnering with CORHIO benefit our patients, it also benefits the providers and members of our medical staff by allowing them to coordinate appropriate and accurate information from which they develop care plans for their patients in hospitals and clinics.”

44 Hospitals Now Participating With CORHIO

There are now 29 hospitals connected to the CORHIO HIE and 15 more are in process to connect. In addition to hospitals, there are more than 1,800 office-based physicians, 100 long-term and post-acute care facilities, 13 behavioral health centers, and five national/regional medical laboratories either connected or in process to connect to the CORHIO HIE. Please visit our Participating Providers page for a complete list of participating organizations along with their connection status.

Hospitals Share Patient Information to Support Community Providers, Patients

Hospitals participating in the CORHIO HIE share vital patient information, such as hospital discharge notifications, lab test results, X-ray, MRI, and other imaging reports, and physician transcription reports, with community-based providers across the state. This ultimately results in patients getting more appropriate treatment, recovering from illnesses and surgeries more quickly, and being healthier overall.

“Hospital leaders across Colorado recognize that a statewide health information exchange network is key to delivering high-quality health care in the twenty-first century,” says Larry Wolk, MD, CEO at CORHIO. “The reality is patients typically visit multiple care providers in a year and there’s no reason their medical histories and test results should be stored in separate systems, inaccessible to the patients’ entire care team. Allowing clinical information to be shared among all of a patient’s health care providers, regardless of their affiliation, allows for the elimination of unnecessary, duplicative testing as well as a reduction in avoidable hospital readmissions, making the process of getting good health care much less cumbersome.”

Additional Resources:

• SCL Health System Exempla Care Sites Join CORHIO Health Information Exchange Network