By John Kansky, President and CEO, Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE)
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of having to repeat their medical history because health records don’t follow them. When information is fragmented, care slows down—and risk increases. Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) helps ensure that clinicians across the state have timely, reliable access to the information they need to deliver safer, more coordinated care. Here’s what to know about Health Information Exchange (HIE) and how IHIE is improving patient care across Indiana and beyond.
Q: What is a Health Information Exchange (HIE)?
A:
A Health Information Exchange enables doctors, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals to securely access and share essential patient health information electronically. HIEs exist to improve care quality, reduce duplication, support clinical decision-making, and ensure patients receive the right care at the right time—especially when every second counts.
Q: Why are HIEs important?
A:
Healthcare data is often scattered across multiple systems, organizations, and formats. When information must be pieced together through paper records, faxes, or phone calls, delays and errors become more likely. HIEs replace this fragmented process with timely, electronic access to a more complete picture of a patient’s health history. That completeness matters: better-informed decisions at the point of care can reduce medical errors, avoid unnecessary tests, and improve outcomes for patients.
Q: What is IHIE?
A:
Founded in 2004, IHIE is a nonprofit organization created through collaboration among Indiana healthcare leaders, including the Regenstrief Institute and BioCrossroads. Today, IHIE operates the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC), one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive interorganizational clinical data repositories.
IHIE connects more than 120 hospitals, tens of thousands of physician practices, and over 50,000 healthcare providers. The INPC contains billions of clinical observations on more than 17 million patients, creating a longitudinal, statewide view of care. This information is available across emergency departments, inpatient and outpatient settings, and other points of care—helping clinicians treat patients with confidence, even when records would otherwise be unavailable.
Q: What does IHIE offer healthcare providers?
A:
When a patient arrives in an emergency department, during a planned or unplanned EHR downtime, or without access to their full medical history, clinicians need answers quickly. IHIE makes that possible by delivering the most relevant clinical data directly into provider workflows.
IHIE offers interoperable products and services that support individual patient care, population health management, and public health reporting. Our solutions help organize information around the patient—when and where care occurs—so providers can spend less time searching for data and more time caring for patients. Today, IHIE supports clinicians not only across Indiana, but in neighboring states as well.
Q: How has IHIE impacted patient care throughout the state?
A:
IHIE is more than a technology vendor—we’re a trusted partner and statewide health data utility. Our focus is on delivering only the data that matters, in ways that align with existing clinical workflows. That means fewer disruptions, better usability, and faster decision-making.
By integrating high-value data into electronic health records and downtime solutions, IHIE helps clinicians make informed decisions, reduce duplication, and avoid preventable errors. The result is safer, more efficient care that benefits patients, providers, and communities alike.
Q: What kinds of products does IHIE offer?
A:
IHIE’s solutions are organized into complementary product suites:
- OneCare supports individual patient care with real-time access to clinical data at the point of care.
- PopCare enables population health insights, helping organizations track outcomes, identify gaps in care, and manage specific patient cohorts.
- GovCare supports public health agencies with reporting, monitoring, and surveillance tools that strengthen community health.
Together, these solutions create a connected ecosystem that supports care delivery, operational resilience, and public health. In addition, IHIE provides vaccination and other public health data across all 92 Indiana counties, supporting outreach, planning, and community-wide health initiatives.
