AR Hospitals Receive Grant to Boost Health Information Exchange

Blue Cross and Blue Shield has awarded $817,000 to Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to expand its health information exchange (HIE) to rural southern Arkansas. The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership consists of 14 hospitals and 108 affiliated clinics in the southern Arkansas. The HIE works with University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) on public health issues and health education. This donation will help rural hospitals in the area upgrade equipment and pay the annual dues for the hospitals and clinics to fully participate in the state’s exchange, State Health Alliance for Records Exchange (SHARE), which is overseen by Arkansas’ Office of Health Information Technology. “Making sure doctors and hospitals in all areas of the state have the information they need to treat their patients is critical to overall quality,” said Curtis Barnett, president and CEO of Arkansas Blue Cross. “And we believe that all stakeholders have a role to play in making the health care delivery system more effective and sustainable for the people we serve.”