Hospitals kill the fax and exchange health data over the Internet

Health-care facilities in two states have begun exchanging data with each other and public health agencies over the Internet as part of a pilot program that standardizes the way patient information is transmitted. The goal is to speed up data transmission and to track public health trends, the US Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced today.

The new electronic data transfer model replaces the sharing of patient information through traditional fax machines and US mail — via redwolf.newsvine.com