Providers Caring for Patients in Underserved Communities Connect to ILHIE

January 27, 2014

Providers Caring for Patients in Underserved Communities Connect to ILHIE

CHICAGO – The Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE) has successfully connected Near North Health Service Corporation, Erie Family Health Center, Heartland Health Outreach, Howard Brown Health Center and PCC Wellness to its electronic health records exchange service, ILHIE Connect. These innovative providers are paving the way as active users of health information technology to improve care coordination for patients in underserved communities.

Raul Recarey, ILHIE Executive Director states, “we are delighted to see community health centers take the lead and become early adopters of health information exchange services. Their forward-thinking approach demonstrates their firm commitment to providing the highest quality health care to the populations they serve.” Recarey continues; “the health IT innovators connecting to ILHIE Connect contribute greatly to the development of our statewide network. As more health care providers are able to exchange patient records with organizations such as these, we will start to see a positive impact on patient care and outcomes.”

Through the ILHIE Connect service, a secure, electronic, health record request and retrieval service, providers can view an aggregated patient record that includes information from multiple clinical sites, giving them information at the point of care that they need to make more informed care, clinical and treatment decisions. Connecting to ILHIE Connect also helps providers achieve Stage 2 Meaningful Use in 2014 and be well prepared for Stage 3 Meaningful Use under the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health records incentive programs. 

The Alliance of Chicago partnered with ILHIE to assist these and other community-based service providers in on-boarding to ILHIE Connect. Fred Rachman, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance of Chicago comments, “The Health Centers participating in the Alliance share a vision for the use of health IT to improve health care and outcomes, and appreciate the valuable role that health information exchange plays. We are all proud to be early participants in supporting the vital infrastructure that ILHIE Connect is building.

The Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE) enables the secure exchange of patient records to promote better care coordination among providers, reduced medical errors and duplicative services and improved health outcomes. One of ILHIE’s core objectives is to connect health care providers in underserved communities. It provides critical infrastructure for Illinois’ Medicaid care coordination efforts and the state’s health care transformation agenda.

For more information about connecting to the Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE), contact Frank Kisner, Director of Client Relationships at, [email protected] or call 312-814-1254.