Creation of a regional health information organization in San Diego has moved one step closer to reality after project leaders selected a technology platform to begin exchanging medical information.

The San Diego regional health information organization (or RHIO) includes hospitals, doctors offices, pharmacies, health and human resources workers, health plans, private labs, the Department of Public Health's Immunization Registry and several community clinics.

The San Diego County Medical Society Foundation and the California Institute of Information Technology and Telecommunications, which are leading the project, tapped Sun Microsystems' technology to support the San Diego Medical Information Network Exchange. Sun's Java Integration Suite will allow the network to match patient data from disparate sources into a single patient record that all organizations participating in the RHIO can access.

The project, which is still in the development phase, initially will tackle a provider directory that could serve as an electronic yellow pages for physicians, pharmacies and hospitals. The network will then be used to test a clinical messaging system with Scripps Mercy Hospital and La Maestra Family Clinic. Close to 1,500 uninsured patients come to Scripps' emergency department each month, said Steve Carson, MD, chief medical officer for the San Diego County Medical Society. Through a clinical messaging system, hospital staff will work with the medical director at La Maestra to find these patients a permanent medical home rather than seeking treatment in the ED.

Eventually, project leaders want patients to walk into a hospital or doctors office, swipe an electronic card and have all of their medical information appear on a computer screen. The project also aims to create a community-wide bridge to immunization and diabetes registries and a single portal for patient education.

In the meantime, project leaders are still attempting to work out the network's governance and funding model. Carson, who began his quest to start the San Diego Medical Information Network Exchange more than two years ago, said he's learned a lot since the project's inception.