The proposed merger of two California health information networks has resulted in creating one of the nations biggest repositories of digital healthcare information. The merger also creates the single biggest state or regional healthcare exchange, according to the California Integrated Data Exchange.Late yesterday the California Integrated Data Exchange (Cal INDEX) announced plans to merge with the Inland Empire Health Information Network to create a new non-profit health information network that would have insurance claims and medical records of 16.7 million patients. Cal INDEX holdsdata on 11.7 million people, and the Inland Empire health exchangeserving providers in 18 counties in Californias Central Valleywill bring an additional 5 million patient records and 150 participating healthcare partners, according to Kaiser Heath News, part ofCalifornia Health Care Foundation.The combined organization will have a new, yet-to-be-announced name and a new chief executive officer: Claudia Williams, a senior member of the Obama administration who served assenior advisor for Health Innovation and Technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.The merger is subject to state regulatory approval but is expected to be final by the end of March, says Inland Empire Health Information Network chairman Dr. Bradley Gilbert.The combined network will be about 1.4 times bigger than other big state exchanges including the Indiana Health Exchange Network, which holds 12 million records, and about 1.7 times bigger than the 10 million electronic patient records contained in the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Patients, according to Cal INDEX.The merger will go a long way to helping competing healthcare organizations in California, a state where annual spending on healthcare is nearly $400 billion according toCalifornia Health Care Foundation, to share data to improve cost efficiency and quality of care statewide, Gilbert says.The creation of this new statewide health information exchange by IEHIE and Cal INDEX is an important milestone in transforming California’s healthcare system into a coordinated system that delivers higher quality and more efficient care to all Californians,”Gilbert says. “The exchange will help improve the quality of the patient experience, support collaboration and coordination and improve efficiencies by making it easier for doctors, hospitals and other care providers to securely review, analyze and share medical information across the healthcare system.San Francisco-based Cal INDEX is an initiative to give hospitals and doctors a single place to get patient information culled from medical records and insurance claims. State leaders and other supporters say enabling an emergency room or a doctor to instantly access a patients medical history can improve the quality of care, reduce medical errors and cut wasteful spending, according to Kaiser Heath News.The California Integrated Data Exchange was founded in 2014 with $80 million in start-up funding from Blue Shield of California and Anthem. Inland Empire Health Information Network was launched in 2009.

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