California health data exchange implements Orion SaaS

Blue Shield of California data is in production at the California Integrated Data Exchange (Cal INDEX) after software provider Orion Health turned the key on the two-year project.

Blue Shield of California is one of two major payer organisations, or health insurers, that underpin Cal INDEX. Orion Health is now working with Anthem Blue Cross to load its historical data into the system.

Together, the two insurers represent nearly 9 million members.

Cal INDEX is a not-for-profit organisation developing a statewide health information exchange, a collection of electronic patient records including clinical data from healthcare providers and health insurers.

Once Cal INDEX is live, it aims to allow physicians, nurses, and hospitals throughout California to share patient health information and provide tools to help give patients high-quality care.

Orion Health, which listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the New Zealand Stock Exchange last month, said it will now work with Cal INDEX to extend the system through delivering analytics, improved care coordination tools, and patient engagement applications.

However, the company emphasised to shareholders that revenue will be delayed because the project has been delivered as software as a service (SaaS) rather than via a traditional software licence. The majority of revenues will be received in the next financial year and beyond, it said.