The New Mexico Health Information Collaborative (NMHIC), the state’s health information exchange (HIE), has selected New Zealand-based Orion Health’s HIE platform to power the statewide exchange and expand the capabilities it offers to healthcare providers across New Mexico. NMHIC will migrate from its current platform and transfer about one million master patient index (MPI) records to Orion Health HIE. NMHIC participants will have access to an improved array of options and features, including data analytics and business intelligence dashboards, disease management tools, public health reporting capabilities and telehealth integration. NMHIC will utilize Orion Health HIE to support improvements in care throughout the state.

NMHIC plans to implement its enhanced HIE with a phased approach and expects to develop a long-term community health record for each patient, which will facilitate initiatives aimed at improving population health management and reducing the burden of chronic diseases throughout the state.

NMHIC is uniquely positioned in that it will implement the full Orion Health HIE solution, which is powered by Orion Health Rhapsody Integration Engine and includes Orion Health Clinical Data Repository and Clinical Portal. The HIE solution will empower NMHIC clinicians across New Mexico by providing them with easy, secure access to the most up-to-date patient information. Orion Health HIE allows providers to access their electronic health record (EHR) via the HIE without altering their workflows and sends automatic notifications to users about patient encounters and new patient information. NMHIC will also utilize Orion Health Direct Secure Messaging, developed using the national standards put forth by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) Direct Project, to extend the reach of the HIE and allow users with any ONC- compliant Direct secure messaging system to communicate with one another.

“As one of the country’s pioneers in statewide HIE, the New Mexico Health Information Collaborative is excited to partner with Orion Health to greatly expand our HIE’s capabilities and the benefits it provides to clinicians and patients across the state,” Craig Hewitt, CIO for NMHIC, said in a statement. “With the enhanced features that Orion Health HIE offers, users will not only have access to the latest patient information, they’ll have the tools needed to drive improvements in care throughout New Mexico.”