Pittsburgh hospitals to join in information sharing

A collaboration among nine major local health providers has led to the formation of ClinicalConnect, a health information exchange that will give medical personnel at participating hospitals access to critical patient information such as past hospitalizations, lab results and allergies. Participants say the system will improve patient care and safety while preventing unnecessary testing and other costly procedures. Two years in the making, ClinicalConnect is a collaboration among the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Heritage Valley Health System, St. Clair Hospital, Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Washington Hospital, Excela Health, Butler Health System, Altoona Regional Health System and Armstrong County Memorial Hospital. Officials also hope to later include other providers in the region and eventually connect with state and federal exchanges that are being developed.