Three Pilot Projects to Receive Grants from the Washington State Health Care Authority...

Three Pilot Projects to Receive Grants from the Washington State Health Care Authority Totaling $1.7 Million to Test Consumer Managed Health Record Banks

Regional Projects in Spokane, Cashmere and Bellingham to Explore
Patients Accessing Online Health Information Using Community-Based
Solutions in Conjunction with Microsoft(R) HealthVault(TM) and Google
Health
OLYMPIA, Wash.--(Business Wire)--
Starting in early 2009, more than 18,000 Washingtonians in three
different communities will have the opportunity to organize and manage
access to their own health information under separate health record
bank pilot project grants from the Washington State Health Care
Authority (HCA). The three community grant recipients announced by the
HCA include: Spokane-based Inland Northwest Health Services,
Cashmere-based Community Choice Healthcare Network, and
Bellingham-based St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and The Critical
Junctures Institute.

"The state Legislature charged HCA in 2005 and 2007 with the
responsibility to improve information sharing for Washington's health
care communities," said Steve Hill, administrator of the Health Care
Authority. "Today, no one has access to their complete health
information - parts of which are stored at multiple locations where
care is provided. It is difficult for patients or medical personnel to
easily see the entirety of a patient's medical information; clearly
this is needed to provide the best care."

Each health record bank pilot project is a public-private
partnership that will help test the feasibility and usefulness of
online health record bank accounts to see if they offer a useful way
for consumers to maintain, track and use their personal health
information.

The Health Care Authority will be closely monitoring the usage and
benefits of the health record bank pilots. Using this new technology,
patients will have the ability to view and share a copy of their
health information - without having to recreate the records from
mounds of information, prescriptions and medical information.

The projects will begin work immediately, and are expected to be
operational starting in February 2009. The pilot project awards are:

Inland Northwest Health Services in Spokane, $583,377.00, in
conjunction with Google Health

Community Choice Healthcare Network in Cashmere, $551,448.00, in
conjunction with Microsoft HealthVault

St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and the Critical Junctures
Institute in Bellingham, $598,352.00, in conjunction with Microsoft
HealthVault

The grant program is administered by the HCA in collaboration with
the Health Information Infrastructure Advisory Board (HIIAB) - a
statewide board that advises HCA on strategy for adoption and use of
electronic health information and electronic medical records in the
state's health care community.

"This project will give us the opportunity to expand on several
years of experience in Whatcom County with the Shared Care Plan
personal health record," said Marc Pierson, MD and regional vice
president of clinical information at St. Joseph Hospital in
Bellingham. "Consumers accessing and documenting their own health
information - and sharing it with their doctors - helps physicians and
patients to work together for better outcomes. We need these pilots to
learn more about the benefits and any possible pitfalls from this
consumer-enabling approach. This is an opportunity to strengthen the
partnership between patient and physician."

"INHS connects 38 hospitals, multiple reference laboratories,
emergency services, regional imaging centers and physicians with more
than 2.8 million health records," said Tom Fritz, chief executive
officer of Inland Northwest Health Services. "Making health
information available online to patients, families, caregivers and
health consumers is a critical step toward a more streamlined health
care system."

"While a growing number of our health care providers are using
electronic medical records, we have a very small number of patients
that have ready access to their personal health information in an
electronic format - let alone in a way that can be proactively used
with their doctor," said Jesus Hernandez, executive director of
Community Choice, PHCO. "Regional organizations of all kinds in
Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Okanogan counties will work with us to
build a robust health record bank that facilitates greater
participation by consumers in their health care."

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and the Legislature have long
advocated the use of technology to reduce expensive redundancies in
health care, and to better share information between providers and
patients. The information is supplied by various health care sources.

For more details about online health information, visit
www.AccessMyHealth.org, a partnership of Washingtonians exploring ways
to improve patients' access to their personal health information
through health record banks. The AccessMyHealth.org Web site and
surveys are part of a broader effort of the HCA to develop a strategy
for adoption and use of online personalized health records in the
state's health care community.

Everyone is encouraged to provide feedback: Washingtonians can
take two online surveys about online health records by visiting
www.AccessMyHealth.org and clicking on "Take a Survey" in the upper
right hand corner of the home page. AccessMyHealth.org will protect
the privacy of everyone's personal information to the full extent of
the law; the organization will not share email addresses or other
personal information with any other party for commercial purposes.

Washington State Health Care Authority
Dave Wasser, 360-923-2711

Copyright Business Wire 2008