http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/healthnetwork/background/
Promoting a more effective marketplace, greater competition, and increased choice through accessibility to accurate information on healthcare costs, quality, and outcomes The Office of the National Coordinator is advancing the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) as a ‘network of networks,” which will connect diverse entities that need to exchange health information, such as state and regional health information exchanges (HIEs), integrated delivery systems, health plans that provide care, personally controlled health records, Federal agencies, and other networks as well as the systems they, in turn, connect.
ONC is advancing the development of the NHIN using a three-phased approach:
- Prototype Architectures
- Trial Implementations
- Production – a phased approach to move the NHIN toward production
