Cool Technology of the Week

I'm a great fan of creating networks of networks for healthcare information exchange.   Point to point interoperability does not scale but creating local or regional collaborations that enable large numbers of organizations to connect with minimal interfacing works very well.

Today, Surescripts announced the Lab Interoperability Cooperative to connect hospital labs with public health agencies.

In Massachusetts, NEHEN has worked with the Boston Public Health Commission and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to enable all the hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts to send reportable lab, syndromic surveillance, and immunization information by simply connecting HL7 2.5.1 transmissions to a single gateway.

Surescripts has the same plan but on a national scale. Hospitals interested in participating can register by completing the “Phase I Checklist” by April 29, 2011.

The project is funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control with participation from the American Hospital Association and the College of American Pathologists. During the two-year grant period, the project will recruit, educate and connect  a minimum of 500 hospital labs to the appropriate public health agencies.  At least 100 will be critical access or rural hospitals.

Based on the Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability, the project will support all federal and state policies and standards for health information exchange, including privacy and security standards.

A standards-based network to connect hospital labs and public health agencies.   That's cool!