Nationwide Health Information Network - How A Person Will Use The NwHIN

How A Person Will Use The NwHIN

The business, trust and technical arrangements that will enable the NwHIN generally will be local and between organizations. Nonetheless, the primary users of the NwHIN will be people: healthcare providers, healthcare consumers and those who use the data in the NwHIN for public health, quality assessment or other purposes. These people will have several ways to take advantage of the information exchange available through the NwHIN.

Access Paths to the System:

• For healthcare providers:

1. Providers may use features of the electronic health record (EHR) systems of their own practice or hospital to connect to an HIE, and the HIE, in turn, will support information exchange with other EHRs or PHRs on that HIE or on other HIEs through the NwHIN;
2. They may not have an EHR, so they may use the Web to access a portal operated by the HIE to access information.

• For healthcare consumers:

1. They may use features of a PHR that they designate as the repository of their personal health record, and that PHR may be connected to an HIE which, in turn, will provide a connection to the NwHIN;
2. They may use features of a multi-regional PHR that will participate directly in the NwHIN;
3. If they do not have access to a PHR, they may achieve some limited functionality by using the services of an HIE through its portal.