CORHIO Awarded $9.175 Million to Build Out a Statewide Health Information Exchange in Colorado

DENVER – February 16, 2010 – US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced that CORHIO, Colorado’s state designated entity for health information exchange, has been awarded a $9.175 million ARRA HITECH grant to create statewide health information exchange capacity in Colorado. This grant to CORHIO is to facilitate health information exchange within and among communities across the state of Colorado to improve the quality and efficiency of health care for all Coloradans.

“These federal ARRA HITECH funds are important to get the most value out of every health care dollar as we work across Colorado to improve the quality and efficiency of health care in every community”, says Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. “They will provide crucial support for Colorado’s health IT infrastructure. As a private-public partnership, CORHIO has been a great partner in these efforts and will work closely with state agencies as well as communities to make Colorado a healthier place to live.”

Prior to this award, CORHIO received a substantial grant from the Colorado Health Foundation to begin the process of developing health information exchange infrastructure. The federal ARRA HITECH grant will be aligned with the Colorado Health Foundation grant so that more Colorado communities can benefit more quickly from the developing statewide health information exchange infrastructure.

“Colorado is fortunate to be in such a great place to use these federal funds wisely to support communities across the state“, says Phyllis Albritton, CORHIO’s Executive Director. “We have many communities that are already engaged in health information exchange and many more that have expressed interest. These funds will be used to support those communities ready to implement health information exchange to improve the health of all Coloradans. “

This has been a truly collaborative effort and CORHIO would like to thank all those across Colorado and nationally who have been supportive of and contributed to CORHIO’s development of Colorado’s State Health Information Exchange Strategic Plan. In particular: the State of Colorado, AHRQ, The Children’s Hospital, Denver Health, Kaiser Permanente of Colorado, University of Colorado Hospital, the Colorado Health Institute and COPIC.

About CORHIO: CORHIO is Colorado’s state designated entity charged with facilitating health information exchange (HIE) across Colorado to improve care for all Coloradoans. CORHIO’s goal is to ensure that the right information is available at the right time and place for all patients across Colorado. CORHIO collaborates with and convenes stakeholders within and among communities and provides technical services where HIE capacity doesn’t exist today. For more information about CORHIO, please visit www.corhio.org.
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