While the health IT requirements for federal stimulus funding have not yet been fully defined, "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs) will almost certainly include electronic lab results transmission.
A new Web site sponsored by the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) tracks adoption of the EHR-Lab Interoperability and Connectivity Standard (ELINCS) for reporting laboratory results to ambulatory EHRs. Widespread adoption of ELINCS promises to streamline the connection of EHRs to laboratories' information systems, a process that has proven costly and time-consuming.
ELINCS was developed by industry experts from commercial labs, electronic health record vendors, government agencies, professional associations, and nonprofit organizations. ELINCS has been approved and is now maintained by Health Level Seven (HL7). It is also consistent with the 2008 Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) criteria for lab interoperability of ambulatory EHRs.
The new site includes a map that tracks live and pending implementations of the various versions of ELINCS across California. More than 40 organizations across the state, involving over 165 health care provider locations, have implemented ELINCS or are in the process of doing so. ELINCS users are encouraged to submit their implementation sites, which will be added to the map.
The site also includes ELINCS support tools, detailed ELINCS specification manuals, and ELINCS news. To learn more, visit www.elincs.org.
