We’re Joining eHealth Exchange

We’re joining eHealth Exchange! Particle is now an official participant in eHealth Exchange (eHX), one of the largest health information networks in the country.

eHealth Exchange is the go-to source for clinical data that’s held by the federal government. eHX processes over a billion transactions per month, but much of that data doesn't leave its network. If your organization has a high proportion of certain federally-linked patients, like veterans, connecting to eHX will noticeably improve your query success rate.

In practical terms, we’re routing patient data queries to eHX like we already do with CommonWell and Carequality. In fact, with this connection, Particle will now have direct integrations with each of the three major health information networks in the US. This particular direct integration allows us to reach a number of endpoints that are unique to eHX, and will provide increased speed and reliability for retrieving documents found there.

What’s Different About eHealth Exchange?

Government Records: eHealth Exchange has endpoints associated with five federal agencies:

• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Indian Health Service
• Social Security Administration
• Food and Drug Administration
• Department of Defense

There are a number of healthcare systems and HIEs with strong ties to the federal government that only make their data available on eHX.

According to eHX, their network also includes 77% of state and regional HIEs, 75% of hospitals, and 85% of dialysis centers.

Integrating with eHX allows Particle’s API to provide bidirectional document exchange for their patients, further increasing the number of patient lives we address.

eHX was one of the earliest health information exchanges, started in 2006 by the interoperability regulators at ONC, and designed to serve government interoperability needs.

Enhanced Bi-Directionality: eHealth Exchange has stricter bi-directionality requirements than other networks, especially as it relates to data quality. eHealth Exchange requires some fields which are not mandatory for other health information networks (for example: codes contained within C-CDAs must conform to the NIH-defined UMLS code set). To conform with eHX’s bi-directionality requirements, network participants must make sure they are sharing data that’s properly mapped. Our team will walk you through it.

Will Existing Workflows be Compatible with eHealth Exchange?

Particle users should not see a change in their workflows when connecting to this major new data source. eHX data will be provided in C-CDA format and optionally converted by Particle into FHIR, just like other sources in our existing API. We’re committed to maintaining and improving our product.

Signing Up for eHealth Exchange

Particle users will not be integrated with eHealth Exchange by default. 

Existing Particle users will need to test their API integration and sign an additional business agreement to join eHealth Exchange. Contact your customer success representative to get started.

If you’re not an existing Particle client, and you want access to eHealth Exchange, contact our Sales team. We'll show you how this connection - plus our other data partners - will open up exciting new possibilities for your organization and your patients.