HealthInfoNet growth prompts move
If Mainers needed another sign that their medical records will soon be available electronically statewide, Devore Culver points to HealthInfoNet's new digs -- a 3,800-square-foot office space inside the Roundhouse Campus on Portland's Presumpscot Street.
The nonprofit group that is leading the charge to create a electronic medical records exchange to enable hospitals and physicians to access patients records with a few mouse clicks will move from its current location on Commercial Street to its new office in August.
The organization signed a five-year lease for the renovated brick and beam structure owned by Ade Properties. The lease was brokered by Justin Lamontagne and Drew Sigfridson of CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co. in Portland.
Culver, executive director of HealthInfoNet, says the new office space will accommodate more staff to make a statewide electronic medical records system a reality.
"We're going to double in size this year," says Culver, going from six to 12 employees. He says the new office space will allow HealthInfoNet to hire 10 additional people on top of that as the need arises.
The federal health care reform act President Obama signed in March has provided Culver's group and others like it with momentum since Maine and three other states launched elecronic medical records efforts last July.
Culver says HealthInfoNet's goals for Maine remain the same. "Basically, we're looking to have all the hospitals committed by 2014 and all the physician providers by 2015, and that's a very ambitious goal."
Per federal requirements, HealthInfoNet is also serving as Maine's regional extension center that will help physicians understand the concept of electronic medical records and the cost of adding them, he says.
The role of the exchange is to foster an affordable marketplace that will allow physician practices to access the technology through group purchasing, Culver says.
Maine has 39 acute care hospitals and 350 physician practices statewide. Nearly all of the state's hospitals and about 35% to 45% of the medical practices in Maine have a form of electronic medical records already in place, but still have to meet more requirements to comply with the new federal law.
HealthInfoNet has received up to $11 million in federal economic stimulus funds and other grants, as well as $1.7 million from the state Legislature, to help carry out its goal since it was launched following five years of development. The demonstration project includes the state's four largest hospital systems, Central Maine Health Care, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, MaineGeneral Medical Centers and MaineHealth, as well as Martin's Point Health Care, Franklin Memorial Hospital and Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Once completed, the electronic medical records system is projected to save Maine $50 million per year in health care costs. Culver says most of the funds are used to pay vendors as they bring physicians and other health care providers into the electronic medical records system.
Culver was named to Mainebiz's 2009 Next List.
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