This form is used by organizations interested in joining Connecticut’s statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE).
Connie, Connecticut’s Statewide HIE
A health information exchange, or HIE, is a safe electronic way for health care providers and organizations to share clinical information about their patients. By state statute, Connie was authorized to be an independent, not-for-profit, neutral, and trusted organization to develop and operate the statewide HIE in Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. 17b-59d and 17b-59g).
Connie enables providers and physicians to:
• Better share clinical information across all healthcare settings.
• Support care coordination.
• Reduce preventable costs associated with readmissions and duplicative testing.
• Support public health reporting, research, and population health analytics.
• Adhere to and promote standards and interoperability.
• Provide patient access to their own health information.
Connie is a growing network comprised of hundreds of healthcare providers. As Connecticut’s official HIE, Connie is working to connect all of Connecticut’s providers, including hospitals, pharmacies, payors, health departments, state agencies, and health centers.
Participation Requirements
State statute requires hospitals and labs to connect to Connie within one year and all other healthcare providers have two years from Connie’s date of being operational. According to the statute, upon the HIE being deemed operational, specific requirements for connecting go into effect for hospitals licensed under chapter 368v, clinical laboratories licensed under section 19a-30, and healthcare providers defined as an individual, corporation, facility, or institution licensed by the state to provide healthcare services (Conn. Gen. Stat. 17b-59e).
The Office of Health Strategy (OHS) has announced that Connie is operational as of May 3, 2021.
What it means to “connect” and “participate”
To meet the state’s mandate, an organization is connected when its clinical and demographic information is being sent to Connie.
What is the deadline for meeting this mandate?
According to Connecticut state statute, all licensed healthcare providers in the state of Connecticut were required to apply to begin the process of connecting to and participating in Connie by May 3, 2023. Providers and organizations who did not complete that application process by the deadline may still apply to begin the process by filling out this form. Once an organization has applied, an Account Manager will reach out to complete the next steps of the onboarding process.