North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NARMC) has become the first hospital in Arkansas  to launch SHARE (State Health Alliance for Records Exchange), a statewide health information exchange (HIE) that gives secure, real-time access to electronic patient health information to various health care providers throughout Arkansas.

Through its implementation and use, SHARE will reduce medical errors and duplicate testing, promote improved management of chronic diseases and allow patients to access their own health information, according to the hospital.

“North Arkansas Regional is taking an important step in building our state’s digital infrastructure and improving the healthcare of Arkansans,” Governor Mike Beebe said in a statement released by the hospital. “Its willingness to take part in the SHARE innovation will help ensure that a patient’s medical information is available where it is needed, when it is needed.”

With SHARE in place, NARMC is ushering in a new era of healthcare for Arkansans. It allows the exchange of patients’ up-to-date health records electronically to be shared by other hospitals and practices where these patients are being treated. The state-wide exchange of health information will become increasingly efficient as more Arkansas healthcare providers implement SHARE in the near future. “I am looking forward to seeing many more installations like this put in place across this state, so that health information can literally follow us as we move from one health care provider to another,” Ray Scott, Arkansas HIT coordinator, said in a statement.