CT’s Health Information Exchange Now Has 25 Participants; Data Flow Testing is Underway

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2, 2021

Hartford – Office of Health Strategy (OHS) Executive Director Vicki Veltri and Jenn Searls, Executive Director of the Health Information Alliance, Inc., dba Connie, jointly announced today that Connie, Connecticut’s health information exchange, has secured participation by twenty-five healthcare providers, including two of the state’s largest hospital systems, the largest provider group, and the state’s Medicaid administrative services organization.

The more than two dozen committed participants represent a critical mass necessary for Connie to help patients and providers improve patient care, coordinate the state’s network of health facilities and services, and improve the state’s overall healthcare delivery system.

“Connie’s capability to instantly share health information among providers in a confidential and secure manner is a major benefit to patients,” said Connie Executive Director Jenn Searls. “As healthcare providers and their patients know all too well, limited health information at the point-of-care has been an obstacle to better patient care, better outcomes, and a more efficient healthcare system. By bridging the information gap and opening a channel to exchange valuable health information in real time, Connie overcomes that obstacle — ultimately improving the healthcare experience and outcomes for patients and providers.”

Connie has begun testing data exchange with Yale New Haven Health — an important step towards connectivity to Connie.

OHS Executive Director Vicki Veltri said, “OHS is very excited about the imminent launch of the health information exchange to ensure better access and coordination of care to target interventions and improve health outcomes. It’s gratifying to know the level of collaboration and hard work bringing all this together.”

From its inception, the goal of Connie has been to realize benefits of data sharing, including enhanced quality and delivery of services, and improved clinical outcomes and public health reporting.

Yale New Haven Health, Hartford Healthcare, ProHealth Physicians, Community Health Network, Community Medical Group, and CT HealthLink are among Connie’s committed participants.

“Connecticut’s health information exchange is a step forward for patients and providers,” said Richard Shirey, Chief Information Officer of Hartford HealthCare. “Connie can help improve communication among care providers and increase patient engagement in their healthcare. It is a welcome development, using technology as a tool in providing better care.”

“Yale New Haven Health and Yale Medicine are committed to using data and technology to achieve excellence in patient care,” said Lisa Stump, Sr. Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Yale New Haven Health and Yale School of Medicine. “Health data is created across the many interactions that people have with doctors and care givers from preventive care and primary care, to triage, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. Connecticut’s health information exchange creates a technology platform and data flows that enhance the ability for people and their care team to have a unified view of relevant data across all those settings to inform care decisions. We are committed to contributing to the data flow toward achieving these sought-after results.”

“Connie’s vision is to bring technology to bear to the benefit of everyone involved in healthcare: patients, providers, and insurers. Having these respected healthcare systems sign on is a major step toward achieving that vision,” added Searls.