In May 2010, Minnesota became one of the first states in the nation to design and implement an oversight program for the exchange of electronic clinical health record information between healthcare providers, facilities and other entities like pharmacies and labs.
Back in January, when the Minnesota Department of Health provided a report to the state legislature about the state’s e-health initiative, it outlined how any entity must get state certification if it provides “health information exchange services for the transmission of one or more clinical transactions necessary for hospitals, providers or 30 eligible professionals to achieve ‘meaningful use’ of electronic health records.”
And earlier this week, Ability Network in Minneapolis, which describes itself as the largest web-based secure health network in the nation, became the state’s first certified health data intermediary. The Health IT firm now has the authority to provide the infrastructure to connect computer systems or other electronic devices that healthcare providers use, as well as those used by others including labs, pharmacies and health plans, so that data is transmitted securely between and among them.
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“With this certification, Ability will be able to help healthcare providers and payers throughout Minnesota communicate with each other safely and securely, for the benefit of their patients,” said John Feikema, president of Ability, in a statement.
The company’s health network is used by more than half the hospitals in the country. Other customers include Medicare, thousands of doctor’s offices, skilled nursing facilities, labs, billing agencies and other entities. Recently, the company raised $27 million from investors including Bain Capital’s venture arm.
Ability has also been involved in a federal initiative called the Direct Project, which establishes standards and documentation to support transmitting data from where it resides to where it’s needed, to boost improved interoperability in the future. The company was part of the first pilot of the Direct Project launched in February through which Hennepin County Medical Center sent immunization data to the Minnesota Department of Health using its web-based, secure health network.
