Orion Health has been selected to provide support for Oklahoma’s new Health Information Exchange (HIE) in an effort to improve patient care. HIE will increase access to information at the point of care and enable greater sharing of health information between authorized doctors, hospitals and patients.

The contract was competitively bid and was awarded after a 13 month process, partially delayed because of COVID-19. The contract is for one year with nine optional annual renewals for a total up to $49.8 million. The implementation costs will be shared 90% federal dollars and 10% state dollars.

The Oklahoma State Health Information Exchange will work with state agencies, private providers, other HIEs, and health technology companies to ensure a robust environment for health care innovation in Oklahoma.

“We know now more than ever the importance of providers having all the information they need when making treatment decisions,” said Oklahoma Health Care Authority CEO and Secretary of Health and Mental Health, Kevin Corbett. “The award of this RFP is an important next step on our journey towards creating a safer and more effective health care delivery system for all 4 million Oklahomans.”

“Today’s announcement is an exciting one. The untapped value of integrating more comprehensive data is the key to unlocking the next wave of innovation in health and wellness,” said Carter Kimble, Executive Director of the State Health Information Exchange. “I know Orion Health will be a great partner to the state as we push towards better health outcomes.”

Benefits of a HIE include improve patient safety by reducing medication and medical errors, prevent the duplication of tests and redundant collection of information from the patient, and improve public health reporting.

“Orion Health is delighted to be selected as the partner of choice to deliver Oklahoma’s new HIE platform,” said Ian McCrae, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Orion Health. “Storing and aggregating vast volumes of different clinical data, and surfacing it in data analytics, will bring the State of Oklahoma a step closer to delivering the right care for the right patient — at the right time and in the right place.”

The health information exchange is expected to launch in the fall of 2021.