Secure Architecture for Exchanging Health Information (SAFEHealth)
Project Final Report (PDF, 477.12 KB) Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s), who are responsible for its content, and do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. No statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Project Details -
Completed
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Grant NumberUC1 HS015220
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AHRQ Funded Amount$1,499,999
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Principal Investigator(s)
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Organization
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LocationWorcesterMassachusetts
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Project Dates09/30/2004 - 09/29/2009
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Technology
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Health Care Theme
This project developed and evaluated the Secure Architecture For Exchanging Health Information (SAFEHealth), a health information exchange (HIE) in Massachusetts. A goal of the project was to create an HIE that would be financially sustainable while improving patient safety, quality of care, and efficiency of health care delivery. Lessons learned from the project are shared so that others can implement their HIEs more efficiently. The evaluation involved all stages of implementation, including cultivating stakeholder participation, defining functional requirements, obtaining funding, developing and implementing the HIE, assessing its financial sustainability, and evaluating its impact.
The primary objectives of this project were to:
- Conduct pre-implementation focus groups with patients and physicians.
- Develop software algorithms to integrate information from three medical entities in the SAFEHealth environment.
- Develop working policy and procedures to assure compliance with HIPAA privacy and security rules.
- Implement and use SAFEHealth at Milford Hospital and HealthAlliance Hospital, Leominster Campus Emergency Room.
SAFEHealth was successfully implemented as a federated model using an edge-proxy server able to transfer clinical data from electronic health record (EHR) to EHR. A central Enterprise Master Patient Index and Consent Portal/Repository external to the EHR were also successfully implemented. After 15 weeks of use, 750 patients had opted-in and approximately 6,000 clinical documents had been exchanged. Overall, participants felt the HIE was valuable. The HIE is financially sustainable due to high value and low operating expenses. SAFEHealth’s model can be use as a formula for a successful and financially sustainable HIE.
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Citation: Garber L. Secure Architecture for Exchanging Health Information (SAFEHealth) - Final Report. (Prepared by Fallon Clinic, Inc. under Grant No. UC1 HS015220). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2009.
Link:
uc1hs015220-garber-final-report-2009.pdf
(477.12 KB)
The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s), who are responsible for its content, and do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. No statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Principal Investigator: Garber, Lawrence
Document Type: Report
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