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    eHealth Partnership

    Public Health Gateway (PHG)

    PHG is a collaborative program between the Pennsylvania's Departments of Health (DOH) and Human Services (DHS) that provides a data platform which facilitates HIPAA-compliant electronic health information sharing, reporting, and querying among Pennsylvania's health information organizations (HIOs), commonwealth health registries, databases, and case management systems.

    The PHG provides a single, secure connection through which authorized agencies that participate in the Pennsylvania Patient and Provider Network (P3N) can report, query, and share data with the commonwealth's health data systems.

    PHG Participation Benefits 

    • Local and state health care delivery and data management agencies
    • Certified P3N HIOs
    • Medical providers and hospitals that are members of an HIO
    • Technology vendors, health care services' advisory boards that deliver technical solutions
      • Electronic health records
      • Interoperability and systems integration

    PHG Goals

    • Support continued data collection for the PA Medical Assistance Promoting Interoperability Program (formerly known as the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program)
    • Support statewide Health Information Exchange and objectives of the PA-eHealth Partnership Program, P3N, and the Health Information Exchange Trust Community Committee (HIETCC) by facilitating access to and data sharing among the commonwealth's health data systems across DHS, DOH, and other qualified state agencies, programs, and PHG stakeholders

    PHG Interaction

    There are currently six active public health reporting registries that can be utilized using the PHG pipeline. It is important to note that utilizing the PHG may count toward meeting the Promoting Interoperability Programs Public Health measure. Additionally, each registry has specific requirements for their programs. Visit each registry site to learn more about these and other requirements.

    Administrative Oversight and Project Management

    Support for the PHG is provided by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and operationalized by the HITECH ACT of 2009 which spearheaded the demand for and implementation of electronic health records. Also called the Meaningful Use Program, the federal government empowered states to offer "incentives" to eligible providers and hospitals to adopt, implement, and upgrade (or meaningfully use) their EHR systems.

    Now CMS and the commonwealth are focused on interoperability between these systems and the PHG is one of our tools to address the issue. The PHG is an interagency collaboration; oversight is performed by the Governance Program and Project Management Committee (PPMC). The PPMC coordinates and escalates issues based on priority. The group meets biweekly and works to conduct performance analysis, manage PHG onboarding, inform technical teams, coordinate with the Promoting Interoperability Program, and educate the public and stakeholders about the program.

    Comments and questions about the PHG can be directed to our resource mailbox at RA-PWPHGQuestions@pa.gov.