The West Virginia Health Information Network (WVHIN) has released a new online tool for medical providers that will gauge their readiness to participate in health information exchange (HIE).

"The provider connectivity readiness assessment survey is the starting point for providers interested in becoming a participant in the WVHIN’s Health Information Exchange,” Amber Nary, WVHIN business development manager, said in a statement. “The survey helps the WVHIN understand the providers’ connectivity goals, baseline their EHR system capability to connect to the WVHIN and to gather general information about their organization."

Currently, critically important patient health information is often fragmented and residing in many different electronic health record (EHR) systems that do not communicate with each other. The WVHIN’s health information exchange (HIE) allows patient health information to be shared seamlessly and securely across disparate EHR systems. Providers using the new online survey tool will benefit from:

• A secure login
• A user-friendly interview process
• The ability to conveniently save information and continue the survey at a later time
• A secure survey data submission process