eHealth Partnership
The Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership is responsible, under Act 76 of 2016, for the creation and maintenance of Pennsylvania's secure health information exchange, known as the PA Patient & Provider Network, or P3N. This includes certification of Health Information Organizations (HIO) connecting to the P3N "hub," maintenance of the patient opt-out and opt-back-in registry, and administration of grant programs to facilitate connections of health care providers to HIOs. The eHealth Partnership also works within DHS and across selected state agencies to facilitate health care provider reporting to various state registries, including immunization, laboratory reporting, cancer, syndromic (disease) surveillance, and clinical quality measurement.
Efforts to Engage Home Health Agencies
The Department of Human Services has received American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to assist Home Health Agencies (HHA) that care for some of the most vulnerable Medical Assistance patients, under the Home and Community-Based Services Pediatric Shift Nursing Program, to adopt, implement, and meaningfully use certified electronic health record technology (CERT) and to be active participants in health information exchange. The new HHA EHR Incentive Program will provide for up to $75,000 per eligible HHA at the corporate-level through December 31, 2023. The new HHA HIE Onboarding Grant Program will provide funding to P3N Certified Health Information Organizations to onboard eligible HHAs at the local-level through December 31, 2023. To help determine which HHA at the corporate- and local-level are eligible for these new programs, the Department has created the following lists of HHAs that care for Pediatric Shift Nursing Patients in calendar-year 2020. The lists can be found in the Pediatric Shift Nursing HH Providers and the Pediatric Shift Nursing HH Providers by MPI documents.
How does the P3N work?
The P3N improves and coordinates patient care by helping health care providers find their patients' medical records—in real-time—anywhere on the P3N network. Regional networks, or HIOs, electronically connect health care providers to each other. In turn, the HIOs connect to the P3N hub to enable statewide health information exchange. Patients and providers benefit from these connections through reduced redundancy of tests, better coordination of care, improved patient safety, and lower costs.
Under Act 76, all patients whose health care providers are connected to the P3N have their medical records available for exchange across the P3N to other providers who need it. However, patients who do not want their medical information available for exchange across the network may opt-out of the P3N; patients who have previously opted out may choose to opt back in at any time.