Networks and HIEs (Health Information Exchanges)
Particle is connected to all three nationwide networks, including some state health information exchanges.
Overview
Particle’s API Platform uses three nationwide healthcare data exchange networks, Carequality, Commonwell, and eHealth Exchange as well Healthix, the public HIE for downstate New York (including New York City and Long Island) and Manifest MedEx, a state HIE for California, to retrieve information about patients. The networks vary in terms of their capabilities and requirements; Particle manages all of this complexity on behalf of our clients.
Particle is an active member of these networks and participates in committees related to standards definition, implementation, and deployment.
Standardization Areas
As the US medical system involves a very heterogeneous mix of care providers and IT infrastructure, these networks enforce standardization across three areas:
Technical Implementation
How to request, receive and submit patient information.
Legal, Trust, and Verification
One legal agreement for all members, secure infrastructure for network operation, and a verification process to allow entities to make queries.
Operation
Ensuring that the ongoing behavior of participants is in accordance with the legal, technical, and security guidelines set by the networks
Standardization Models
The networks differ slightly in how they choose to apply this standardization.
Carequality and eHealthExchange
Both use a decentralized framework wherein all participants are nodes in a network and can query each other, provided that they are members in good standing and use the Carequality and eHealthExchange defined standards when making and responding to queries.
Commonwell
Uses a hub model requiring members to submit all requests to a Commonwell operated service, which then makes queries against member endpoints on behalf of the requester.
Healthix
Aggregates and updates data from across their participating organizations. When a participating organization places a patient query to Healthix, Healthix dynamically generates and returns a longitudinal CCDA that includes all data that they have aggregated across participating organizations to-date for that patient.
Manifest MedEx
Through their services, Manifest MedEx provides real-time notifications to healthcare providers, ensuring improved care coordination and compliance with regulatory requirements. They serve as a centralized hub for health information throughout California's healthcare system.
When providers push patient data (via Particle) to Manifest MedEx to satisfy the AB 133 requirements, they receive ADT notifications back from Manifest MedEx.
Updated 4 days ago
Check out more information on connecting to our NY state HIE partner Healthix, and read up on the importance of Purposes of Use.