3 Northeast Ohio hospitals will help start data network

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A $5 million federal grant will let three Northeast Ohio hospitals help develop a pilot network for linking medical records.
The grant from the Department of Health and Human Services is part of $18.6 million awarded for the National Health Information Network, a project that aims to find a way for hospitals nationwide to share data.
Dr. Nathan Levitan, chief medical officer of the University Hospitals Health System and the project's lead clinical liaison in Ohio, said the importance of developing the proposed network was emphasized when Hurricane Katrina wiped out millions of medical records.
"It is imperative for hospitals throughout the country to have the ability to share confidential patient information," he said.
The University Hospitals Health System, the Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth Medical Center will join a consortium that includes HealthBridge, a health-care information network in Cincinnati; a health information organization in Santa Cruz, Calif.; and information technology companies led by Northrop-Grumman Corp. in Los Angeles.
That group is one of four that will develop prototype networks over the next two years.