About

The MidSouth eHealth Alliance (MSeHA) was established in 2004, the result of grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the State of Tennessee to establish a Health Information Exchange (HIE) in the Memphis, Tenn. area.

Grants totaling $12.5 million were awarded to demonstrate: 1) data sharing 2) interoperability 3) documentation of lessons learned and 4) evaluation of the MSeHA on patient care and treatment.

What we do

The MSeHA is currently sharing medical information between hospital emergency departments and ambulatory clinics to provide better treatment and diagnostic services for patients. The Alliance is focused on:

  • Improving patient care
  • Decreasing emergency departments for primary care
  • Reducing hospital stays
  • Reducing redundant tests
  • Controlling costs

The MSeHA currently exchanges data among 9 hospitals, 15 ambulatory clinics and the University of Tennessee Medical Group (UTMG) in the region. Examples of data being exchanged are:

  • Patient information
  • Demographics
  • ICD-9 discharge codes
  • Lab results
  • Encounter data
  • Dictated reports

Results

Emergency department physicians, hospitalists and ambulatory clinicians are currently sharing patient information via the MSeHA. The success of the MSeHA is the result of:

  • Support of AHRQ and the State of Tennessee
  • Cooperation among health care providers
  • The strength of the MSeHA Executive Board leadership
  • Vanderbilt technology efforts and project management