Colo. RHIO gains seven hospital members

The Denver-based Colorado Regional Health Information Organization just saw its hospital membership jump by 25% with the addition of seven Denver-area hospitals to the health information exchange organization.

The seven new members of CORHIO are: Medical Center of Aurora and Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital, Aurora; Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center (which includes Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's) and Rose Medical Center, all Denver; Swedish Medical Center, Englewood; Sky Ridge Medical Center, Lone Tree; and North Suburban Medical Center, Thornton. Those additions bring hospital participation to 35, according to a CORHIO statement.

All are members of the HealthOne network, a division of Nashville-based HCA. HCA completed a $1.45 billion buyout of the Colorado Health Foundation's share in HealthOne in 2011.

CORHIO has received more than $10.8 million in federal funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to establish a statewide health information exchange program in Colorado, funds that include a $1.7 million “challenge grant” “to encourage breakthrough innovations for health information exchange.”

The not-for-profit organization enables participating providers to share patient medical records, including lab and pathology results, X-ray and other imaging reports, and physician transcription reports, according to CORHIO.