PA eHealth Partnership Authority Plans Next Steps in Pennsylvania's eHIE Journey

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Technology and healthcare leaders will convene next week to plan the next steps in the journey to complete interoperability of electronic health information exchange (eHIE) in Pennsylvania.

The two-day plenary meeting will take place Oct. 22-23 at the Clarion Conference Center in New Cumberland, Pa. Featured speakers include Jay Goodwyn, an IBM Business Services Partner, discussing new advances in approaches and technologies, such as Big Data, Natural Language Processing and Watson, the artificially intelligent computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language developed by IBM.

Also speaking will be State Sen. Randy Vulakovich (R-40th), chair of the Communications and Technology Committee, who will talk about the importance of eHIE to Pennsylvania's healthcare consumers.

"We have designed this meeting," said Alix Goss, PA Health IT Coordinator, "so our stakeholders can receive an update on the Authority's efforts to implement the strategic and operation plans and to influence the Authority's future plans through a series of planning sessions. In addition, there will be an election of two ex-officio members to the Authority's board of directors."

The Authority has achieved significant milestones in making the secure, electronic exchange of health information a reality in Pennsylvania. Before the end of the year, at least three regional health information exchanges will be onboarded to the network created by the Authority, a thin layer of shared network services that enables the secure exchange of health information.

In addition, the Authority will hold a public board meeting in conjunction with this event. The board will meet from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 23. The meeting is open to the public, and individuals do not need to attend the plenary program or pay any fees to attend the board meeting.

For more information about the program or electronic health information exchange in Pennsylvania, visit www.paehealth.com.

SOURCE Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership Authority