How may we help you and your family today?

Penobscot Community Health Care Joins HealthInfoNet

July 6, 2012

Maine's Health Information Exchange


Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC) recently announced its participation in Maine’s health information exchange. This computer-based system is being used statewide and will help PCHC share important patient health information like drug allergies, prescriptions, medical conditions, and lab and test results with health care providers across the State. This new system is available through PCHC’s partnership with HealthInfoNet, an independent, Maine-based nonprofit that operates the statewide health information exchange. 

HealthInfoNet's secure system links information from separate health care sites to create a single electronic health record for individual patients. This record combines health information from PCHC and all of a patient’s other health care providers that participate. HealthInfoNet hopes to connect all health care providers to its system by 2015.

“We’re very enthusiastic about this partnership,“ said Robert Allen, MD, Executive Medical Director. “Having access to the HealthInfoNet network will give our providers the information they need to make more informed decisions about our patients’ care.”

PCHC has over 50,000 patients.  It is not the only large health care system in the Bangor area to participate in HealthInfoNet – Eastern Maine Medical Center and St Joseph’s Hospital also share health information with the exchange.

Health information exchanges like HealthInfoNet are being built in states and regions across the country and are widely viewed as fundamental to making lasting improvements in our nation’s health care system. The use of these systems can reduce medical mistakes, improve care coordination, provide better patient outcomes, and lower overall health care costs. Also, many health care privacy experts believe sharing information through a system like HealthInfoNet is more secure than sharing paper-based medical records.

For more information about HealthInfoNet, visit www.hinfonet.org