NC HealthConnex Exchange
Have access to a more comprehensive view of health records for patients with whom you have a treatment relationship with the exchange services offered by NC HealthConnex.
NC HealthConnex offers HIPAA-compliant health information sharing via the web-based NC HealthConnex Clinical Portal and via bi-directional integrations with EHR vendor systems, giving providers access to records from hundreds of hospitals and thousands of ambulatory care settings in North Carolina. Information sharing is also available with neighboring states and federal agencies via the eHealth Exchange.
Additionally, NC HealthConnex participates in the Civitas Networks for Health Patient Centered Data Home (PCDH), a network comprised of 45 HIEs across the country. Alerts are generated when a care event has occurred outside of the patient’s “home” HIE and confirms the availability and the specific location of the clinical data.
Other features of our exchange services are:
Data Access Methods
Participants with a Full Participation Agreement are able to view data that has been submitted to NC HealthConnex, unless a patient has submitted an Opt Out request. While you may see a patient that has been treated at another facility that has a participation agreement with the NC HIEA, this does not automatically mean you will see that patient’s data in NC HealthConnex.
NC HealthConnex Provider Clinical Portal
The NC HealthConnex Provider Clinical Portal is a secure, web-based application through which providers can view important patient health information. It can be used to query and exchange patient records, view longitudinal patient records and access other features.
Staff with a clinician role can use the Clinical Portal to view longitudinal patient records including allergies, medications, problem lists, procedures, lab results, radiology reports, immunization history, and other important information from providers across the state.
The basic functions of the NC HealthConnex Clinical Portal include:
- Patient Search
- Demographic and Clinical Information
- Download or print patient information
Login credentials for the Clinical Portal must be requested through your Participant Account Administrator (PAA) by emailing the SAS Help Desk at HIESupport @sas.com. The PAA can set up accounts with appropriate access based on the role of the staff member.
If you do not know how to reach your PAA or have general questions about the portal, contact the NC HIEA at hiea@nc.gov, or call 919-754-6912. If you are the PAA, please see the Participant Account Administrator Reference Guide.
Query and Retrieve Services
Bi-Directional Integration
This option allows providers to pull electronic health information back to a practice’s EHR. Data submitted to NC HealthConnex will show populate in a patient’s record directly within your EHR if available. Some EHRs that currently have this functionality are:
- Allscripts
- Athena
- Cerner
- eClinicalWorks
- Epic
- HIS-Netsmart
- Meditech
- NextGen
- Thrive by Evident
The NC HIEA is able to work with additional EHRs to incorporate this functionality.
This bi-directional exchange can assist providers in attesting to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) measure – bidirectional exchange through an HIE.
As a part of the promoting interoperability measures, the health information exchange (HIE) bidirectional exchange measure requires that eligible clinicians or groups attest to being capable of establishing the technical capacity and workflows for bidirectional exchange through a HIE for all patients seen by the clinician and for any patient record in their electronic health record (EHR).
Providers can fill out the NC HealthConnex Bidirectional Interface Confirmation Form to confirm participation of a bidirectional interface to NC HealthConnex. To determine bidirectional capabilities or for related questions, participants should contact the NC HIEA team at hiea@nc.gov.
eHealth Exchange
eHealth Exchange is a TEFCA-approved Qualified Health Information Network that enables query and retrieval of patient records from HIEs in other states. eHealth Exchange participants include large provider networks, hospitals, pharmacies, regional health information exchanges and many federal agencies.
- Atrium Health
- Carolina eHealth Network (CeHN)
- East Tennessee Health Information Network (eTHIN)
- Georgia Health Information Network (GaHIN)
- Georgia Regional Academic Community Health Information Exchange (GracHIE)
- MedVirginia (MedVA)
- OCHIN
- Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE)
- Sentara Healthcare
- U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense (VADoD
Core Components
Core technical components that form the backbone of the health information exchange and support the exchange of patient information include the following.
| Core Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Master Patient Index | A database that maintains a unique index (or identifier) for every patient whose information has been received by NC HealthConnex |
| Provider Directory | A secure messaging directory that contains individual-level information on health care providers who have direct secure messaging accounts in North Carolina |
| Mirth Connect Integration Engine |
An interoperability platform that receives all connections and moves clinical and demographic data to the health information exchange; provides the capabilities to:
|
| Clinical Data Repository |
A comprehensive database that:
|