Statewide health information exchange can shorten rural care gaps, MIHIN tells appropriations committee
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Summary
MIHIN CEO Isabel Pacheco told lawmakers MIHIN already connects providers across 79 counties and can conduct a gap analysis to onboard unconnected rural providers; she said targeted onboarding and training could reduce duplicate testing and improve care transitions.
LANSING — The Michigan Health Information Network (MIHIN) told the House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 27 that leveraging existing statewide interoperability infrastructure can accelerate rural care improvements and provide measurable benefits in care transitions and reduced duplicate testing.
"MIHIN exists for one primary reason, to make it easier for providers to securely share health information so patients experience more coordinated, timely care," Isabel Pacheco, MIHIN’s CEO and executive director, said during her testimony. She said MIHIN already supports health information exchange in 79 counties and integrates with more than 80 electronic health record systems.
Pacheco recommended a statewide connectivity gap analysis, run at county or ZIP-code level, to identify which rural providers are not connected and then onboard them, provide workforce training and enable secure electronic referrals. She emphasized that MIHIN is infrastructure rather than an electronic medical record vendor and said targeted use of RHTP funds to expand connectivity would avoid duplicative infrastructure spending.
Concrete examples and funding use: Committee members asked how MIHIN could help foster care records and medication lists follow children between homes; Pacheco said MIHIN is already engaging with the foster-care program and could accelerate participation with targeted funding for onboarding and technical readiness. She described MIHIN’s current funding mix (MDHHS partnerships, participation fees and payer relationships) and said any new RHTP dollars for MIHIN would focus on onboarding, training and sustained connectivity so investments last beyond the five-year grant period.
Next steps: MIHIN said it has applied to the Rural Health Advisory Council and stands ready to work with MDHHS on standards and rural connectivity.
