Health Foundation of South Florida was awarded close to $500,000 in two health information technology grants to establish the South Florida Health Information Initiative (SFHII). The initiative is an emerging Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO), a multi-stakeholder organization that enables the exchange and use of secure electronic health information for the purpose of improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare.

The grant funding will enable the initiative to create the infrastructure for a community health information exchange. The exchange is a secure Web based application that will provide access to electronic health records to authorized users. This will improve efficiency in the health care system and enhance clinicians’ ability to access critical health information from laboratory results, diagnostic imaging, prescription history and progress notes.

According to Health Foundation of South Florida President/CEO Steven E. Marcus, Ed.D., “The SFHII was formed to help local physicians adopt and utilize electronic medical records and to create an information highway to allow them to exchange medical records.” The goal of the initiative is to use technology to share critical health information as a means of improving patient safety, reducing health care cost, and improving health care quality.

University of Miami Department of Family Medicine Chair Robert Schwartz, M.D. states, “The duplication of costly healthcare services is putting a drain on the healthcare system. The initiative will help hospitals, physicians, and community health organizations to provide a higher quality of service with fewer redundancies and inefficiencies. ”

According to Lisa Rawlins, Bureau Chief of the Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis, “Carladenise Edwards, Ph.D., The President/CEO of The BAE Company is serving as the Executive Director of the Initiative. She has been a driving force in Florida’s health information technology movement and the Agency is excited about the role South Florida will play in the development of the state level health information network.”