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AUGUSTA, ME – With $4 million in hand, Maine healthcare leaders announced today they would begin to build a statewide health information exchange Feb. 1, making Maine among the first in the nation to build a statewide network.
Nonprofit organization HealthInfoNet is developing the network that will connect hospitals and physician practices across the largely rural state. It has retained the services of technology companies 3M and Orion Health.
"This project will be big and far-reaching - touching the lives of more than half of Maine's population," said David Howes, MD, vice chairman of HealthInfoNet and president and CEO of Martin's Point Health Care.
Wendy Wolf, MD, president and CEO of the Maine Health Access Foundation, said she and her colleagues view HealthInfoNet as a key way to provide better care for both insured and uninsured patients in the state. Uninsured patients tend to receive the least coordinated care, she noted.
Maine Health Access Foundation, which Wolf said is focused on provide access to healthcare for everyone, provided $2 million of seed money for HealthInfoNet.
"This really represents true system change," Wolf said.
As HealthInfoNet expands services across the state, network officials estimate it will cut $50 million per year in healthcare costs as caregivers order fewer unnecessary and duplicative tests, procedures, prescriptions and hospital admissions.
