Great Lakes Health Information Exchange First in Michigan to Achieve EHNAC Health Information Exchange Accreditation

HIE accreditation ensures adherence to health data processing standards and compliance with security infrastructure and integrity requirements

EAST LANSING, Mich., Oct. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Great Lakes Health Information Exchange (GLHIE), is the first HIE in Michigan and the fourth in the country, achieving full accreditation with the Health Information Exchange Accreditation Program (HIEAP) under the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). The accreditation recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions, and ensures compliance with industry-established standards and HIPAA regulations.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130812/MM62882LOGO)

Through the consultative review process, EHNAC evaluated Great Lakes Health Information Exchange (GLHIE) in areas of privacy and security, technical performance, business practices and organizational resources as it relates to health information exchange (HIE) policies and procedures. In addition, EHNAC reviewed the organization's process of managing and transferring protected health information and determined that the organization meets or exceeds all EHNAC criteria and industry standards

"With the broad adoption of EHRs and health information technology across the industry, the amount of organizations exchanging protected health information (PHI) and data electronically brings a clear need to ensure all organizations touching this data have the utmost privacy, security and safeguard procedures in place," says Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. "With its EHNAC HIEAP designation, customers and business partners can have confidence and trust that GLHIE has met a high standard for privacy and security as it relates to consent, authorization, authentication, access and audit procedures."

This secure exchange of information through GLHIE supports coordination of care with primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, nursing homes and urgent care centers in real-time. With more than 3 million individuals in their master patient index, GLHIE continues to expand into new communities and forge partnerships across Michigan.

About GLHIE
The Great Lakes Health Information Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality and accessibility of healthcare by facilitating the authorized and secure electronic access and retrieval of critical clinical information to healthcare providers. For more information, visit www.glhie.org

About EHNAC
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include electronic health networks, payers, financial services firms, health information exchanges, medical billers, outsourced services, e-prescribing solution providers and direct trusted agents.

EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org or contact [email protected]. Connect with EHNAC on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

For more information contact:
Carol Parker, Executive Director
Great Lakes Health Information Exchange
271 Woodland Pass, Suite 110
East Lansing, MI
517-347-3373
[email protected]

SOURCE Great Lakes Health Information Exchange