BANGOR, MAINE – St. Joseph Healthcare is the most recent Bangor area health facility to connect to Maine’s health information exchange (HIE), operated by HealthInfoNet. The secure system links information from separate healthcare sites to create a single electronic patient health record. This record is easily accessible to the doctors and nurses caring for patients. Having access to this system provides caregivers with the information they need to make the best decisions possible on behalf of their patients.
 
Last year, Bangor was chosen as one of only 17 communities nationwide as a Beacon Communities program and awarded $12.7 million from a federal stimulus program. The goal of the Bangor Beacon Community grant is to facilitate connections among local healthcare sites in an effort to improve patient care coordination, safety and lower healthcare costs. To support expanded community connectivity all Beacon participants will be connected through the HIE.
 
Fifteen healthcare organizations statewide are already connected to HIN, including Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and Eastern Maine Medical Center. With the addition of St. Joseph Healthcare, providers from both hospitals can easily share important patient health information such as drug allergies, prescriptions, diagnoses, and lab and test results to help them better care for their patients. This is especially important to the many patients who receive care from both healthcare organizations.
 
“This information can be vital in the case of an emergency,” says Charles Pattavina MD,
St. Joseph Hospital Emergency Department Chief. “Having access to the patient’s medical history helps us make faster, better decisions, and limit repeat testing and procedures.”
 
The goal is for healthcare providers throughout Maine to be connected to HealthInfoNet, with all of Maine’s hospitals connected by 2014. Plans are in place for other Bangor Beacon Community partners, including Penobscot Community Health Care and The Acadia Hospital to join in the near future. Patients may choose not to participate in the statewide information exchange by “opting out.” Opt-out forms are available at all sites participating with the HIE, as well as online at www.hinfonet.org. If a patient opts out of HealthInfoNet, his or her medical information will be removed from the system and inaccessible to caregivers at multiple healthcare sites.