All Delaware acute-care hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities have enrolled in the state's health information exchange, according to the Delaware Health Information Network.

The exchange allows electronic transfer of clinical records between providers, as well as aggregation of community health records in a comprehensive and searchable database.

The latest hospital to join the exchange, which was launched in May 2007 as the nation's first operational statewide exchange, was 139-bed Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford. In addition, all of Delaware's 46 skilled-nursing facilities, as well as 86% of the state's healthcare providers, participate in the exchange, according to a DHIN news release.

To date, the Delaware exchange has received $4.7 million through the federal program that aims to spur the development of such state systems, according to HHS.

“With this exchange, doctors across the state have information that enables them to make quicker and better medical judgments for people,” Gov. Jack Markell said in the release. “This is the fundamental technological foundation we need to build a system of focused and managed healthcare that keeps people healthy.”

Both Nanticoke and 192-bed Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington are “interfacing” with the network, while the state's skilled-nursing facilities are expected to complete training in their use of the network by the end of March, according to the news release.