EAST LANSING, Mich., Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) has announced that PCE Systems, a leading provider of Electronic Health Record (EHR) solutions to Michigan's Behavioral Health organizations, has executed the legal data sharing agreements to become a Virtually Qualified Data Sharing Organization (VQO) through MiHIN.  As a MiHIN VQO, PCE has the ability to securely send and receive health information securely through MiHIN to other Qualified Data Sharing Organizations (QO's) connected to MiHIN.  PCE Systems can now utilize the Shared Services offered by MiHIN and allow Michigan's sub-state Health Information Exchanges (HIE) to connect their physical health networks with behavioral health and substance abuse treatment organizations connected to PCE's information exchange network. This will provide clinical staff with secure access to comprehensive patient health information in a manner that is consistent with the additional privacy protections afforded to behavioral health and substance abuse treatment information. MiHIN Senior Integration and Technical Architect Jeff Shaw observed "Bringing PCE into the MiHIN stakeholder community helps close the information gap between physical and behavioral health.  This ensures that all health professionals will have appropriate access to patients' medical information allowing for treatment of the specific needs of each and every patient."

Jeff Chang, Project Manager at PCE Systems, stated, "PCE has been working hard both internally and with its behavioral health client base to navigate the complex technical, legal, and political issues of integrating behavioral health and substance abuse treatment information into the current HIE infrastructure. We are excited to be working with MiHIN's talented technical team to build on MiHIN's great work in the physical health HIE space. Together, we will be able to bring the behavioral health and physical health community together, and provide healthcare professionals on the ground with the best, most comprehensive and timely information possible."

The Upper Peninsula Health Information Exchange (UPHIE), a MiHIN Qualified Organization and sub-state HIE, plans to immediately undertake a behavioral health information exchange pilot with MiHIN and PCE.  Dennis Smith, President and CEO of UPHIE said regarding the pilot program "We have been talking to PCE for a while, but having Michigan's QO's go through MiHIN's cloud to communicate with PCE through a common path was obviously the most cost-effective approach for Michiganders.  We are excited to begin this pilot with PCE and MiHIN to accelerate HIE in the Behavioral Health Community and look forward to sharing our early successes statewide through MiHIN."

MiHIN Associate Director Jeff Livesay commented "MiHIN is extremely fortunate to be working with the advanced technology team at PCE Systems.  PCE's pro-active, results-oriented approach to getting things done intelligently and in short order will allow MiHIN participants to soon access to their patients' behavioral health information through a common interface thereby saving time and money for HIE organizations statewide." 

About Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN)
The Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) is Michigan's initiative to improve health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety through the sharing of electronic health information, while reducing costs. MiHIN is the official state designated entity for health information exchange across Michigan and the future integration with the eHealth Exchange. MiHIN is a Michigan nonprofit entity, functioning as a public and private collaboration between the State of Michigan, sub-state Health Information Exchanges, payers, providers, and patients.
For more information please visit www.mihin.org.

About Upper Peninsula Health Information Exchange (UPHIE)
We are a health information organization that brings together health care stakeholders within a defined geographic area and governs health information exchanges among them for the purpose of improving health and care in the community. Our vision is to provide secure electronic health information to health care providers to have ready, seamless access to patient health information to support clinical decisions and care coordination for the residents of the Upper Peninsula.

About PCE Systems
PCE Systems is an information technology and services company based in Farmington Hills, MI specializing in custom, hosted solutions that go beyond the capabilities of typical "off-the-shelf" software. PCE is the largest behavioral health Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and provider management system vendor in the State of Michigan, with clients encompassing over 70% of the Michigan Medicaid mental health budget. PCE seeks to break the mold of typical software vendors by providing innovative solutions and unparalleled support services under a model that engenders trust and collaboration among PCE and its clients.

SOURCE Michigan Health Information Network