Established in 2009, healthEconnect Alaska is a nonprofit health information exchange facilitating comprehensive health data sharing and utility tools for the purpose of improving the health and wellbeing for all Alaskans.
We are designated as Alaska’s HIE by the Alaska Department of Health and work with more than 130 organizations across the state, serving health networks, care organizations, providers, community-based organizations, payers, government agencies and more.
healthEconnect is an affiliate of CRISP Shared Services, an innovative nonprofit organization sharing technology and expert strategy to empower localized healthcare ecosystems.
This affiliation enables our health information exchange to provide Alaska with industry-leading infrastructure and innovative solutions at lower costs while preserving our autonomy and cultural diversity.
Additionally, we partner with other healthcare and data exchange organizations across the state and nation to ensure our network has the latest and most comprehensive technologies, services and information available.
healthEconnect Alaska is a nonprofit organization designated in 2009 by the Alaska State Legislature to be the health information exchange (HIE) for all of Alaska. We are not owned or controlled by any healthcare entity, and we do not answer to anyone but our board of directors and the state of Alaska. We never sell, share, or use health information for profit.
healthEconnect Alaska is entrusted by the Alaska Department of Health, is regulated by Alaska state statute 18.23.300, and complies with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules, as do healthEconnect protecting the privacy and security of health information is the highest priority of healthEconnect Alaska and its participants. Health information is kept secure using stringent industry technical and security safeguards and administrative policies and procedures.
An HIE is an organization with agreed-upon operational and business rules that provides services to enable the electronic and secure sharing of health-related information. Electronic exchange of clinical information allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers improve the speed, quality, safety, coordination, and cost of patient care.
HIE adoption is associated with various benefits, including reduced hospital emergency department length of stays and positive effects on quality improvement of patient care. Like the other 50 states that have implemented an HIE, healthEconnect Alaska works to ensure that providers and care teams have the vital tools and clinical data resources they need to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs of care.
As Alaska’s HIE, healthEconnect Alaska focuses on the diverse Alaska healthcare ecosystem, which includes hospitals and clinics; providers, including behavioral and tribal healthcare providers; payers and health plans; public health agencies; and federally qualified health centers. Learn more about the various entities we serve and the organizations/stakeholders in our network.
HIEs help facilitate improved patient care, reduce duplicative treatments, and avoid costly mistakes. healthEconnect Alaska helps providers and patients alike by improving the quality and safety of patient care, eliminating unnecessary paperwork and redundant testing, improving public health reporting and monitoring, facilitating deployment of emerging technology and healthcare services, and providing a basic level of interoperability among electronic health records maintained by individual physicians and organizations.
We offer simple yet powerful solutions that streamline workflows and processes for providers and other healthcare stakeholders so they can access the data they need, when they need it.
The following core services are central to enhancing patient care:
healthEconnect Portal
Our provider-centric solution features a streamlined suite of vital patient data and care coordination tools that can embed directly into EMRs or be accessed through our secure portal.
Direct Secure Messaging (DSM)
Our HIPAA-compliant, integrative messaging solution allows care organizations and government agencies to communicate directly and securely share protected information with other healthcare organizations and stakeholders.
Public Health Reporting
Our robust and efficient data solution can streamline complex and laborious mandated public health reporting, such as electronic lab reporting (ELR), vaccinations, infectious diseases, and more.
Through the healthEconnect portal, providers can access patient health information such as demographics (age, gender, and address); medications; allergies; immunizations; health conditions; reports, including labs; provider’s notes and summaries from other healthcare organizations; and care coordination documents.
Not all health clinics or providers share information with healthEconnect Alaska. Patients can ask their care providers if they are participating.
Certain types of sensitive health information may not be disclosed under federal laws without the patient’s prior written authorization.
You can find more substance use-specific FAQs here.
Protecting data is healthEconnect Alaska’s highest priority. Our privacy and security practices have been HITRUST-certified, meaning they adhere to the highest industry standards and best practices. All transmissions are encrypted into a type of language that can only be translated, or decrypted, by certified professionals who have the authority to do so.
All healthEconnect Alaska participants must sign a data-use agreement, which regulates and determines permitted uses and exchange, including privacy and security. Audits are continually performed to monitor data access. healthEconnect Alaska is compliant with HIPAA and other relevant legal requirements.
Contact our helpdesk at: help@healtheconnectAK.org or (866) 966-9030, ext. 2.
For more information about healthEconnect Alaska, please see our patient FAQs or our provider FAQs.