Mayo, Geisinger, Kaiser part of new data-exchange initiative

Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pa.; Group Health Cooperative, Seattle; Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City; Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif.; and Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., announced a new initiative to securely exchange electronic health data among themselves.

The providers' Care Connectivity Consortium is expected to host its first health information technology data exchange in the next year. The collaboration aims to do so with an approach that protects patient confidentiality, according to a news release from the five organizations.

One of the consortium's goals is to demonstrate that better and safer care results from better data availability, according to the release. The consortium also is looking to show that "effective and timely health information exchange using the latest national IT standards is possible in a secure environment and among geographically disparate healthcare providers."

"Our hope is that this partnership will grow and help accelerate the implementation of a national health information exchange, leading to better care for everyone," Group Health Cooperative CEO Scott Armstrong said in the release.

The consortium is separate from a quality-focused cooperative announced in December, although Geisinger, Intermountain and Mayo are participating in that effort, as well.