As we move toward more ACOs and medical homes many organizations will need to have a secured private network. Some will use the cloud to communicate on (securely) and others will simply connect to their community health system. The closest initiative to address mass illness or outbreak would be part of what the NHIN can provide. The NHIN would be connected to the CDC to allow them to detect outbreaks based on location and other variables. One challenge that is facing everyone right now is the adoption rate and cost. It has to start at the state level first (establishing a state wide HIE) then connecting to a federal HIE (like the NHIN). Unfortunately not many states are making progress on this front. And for the few that have, getting funding can be tricky especially with some of the cuts being made. I am hopeful that as we continue to see many of the changes in healthcare that we will see more of what you are describing. But the closest thing to detecting an outbreak right now is Google (which gets its stas from all the searches that everyone does) then the CDC (which requires health providers to submit specific data to them on certain health conditions.

As we move toward more ACOs and medical homes many organizations will need to have a secured private network. Some will use the cloud to communicate on (securely) and others will simply connect to their community health system. The closest initiative to address mass illness or outbreak would be part of what the NHIN can provide. The NHIN would be connected to the CDC to allow them to detect outbreaks based on location and other variables. One challenge that is facing everyone right now is the adoption rate and cost. It has to start at the state level first (establishing a state wide HIE) then connecting to a federal HIE (like the NHIN). Unfortunately not many states are making progress on this front. And for the few that have, getting funding can be tricky especially with some of the cuts being made. I am hopeful that as we continue to see many of the changes in healthcare that we will see more of what you are describing. But the closest thing to detecting an outbreak right now is Google (which gets its stas from all the searches that everyone does) then the CDC (which requires health providers to submit specific data to them on certain health conditions.