The award comes as the US tries to step up its campaign to install interoperable electronic medical records via its state networks within the next ten years, resulting in a national health information network (NHIN).
The Philadelphia network was launched two years ago in a move to facilitate physician access to shared patient information by enabling hospitals and clinics to securely exchange digital medical records across enterprise borders. It is built on Hx’ iHistory platform, which provides a link to the existing archives at each site and permits healthcare providers on the outside to access the data online, subject to restrictions of the HIPAA privacy rule.
The new funds are expected to support an expansion of the network to more hospitals in the region and to research into its ability to improve cancer diagnosis and management. It will also include interoperability standards in an effort to ensure compatibility with other networks across the country.