Jim Younkin is a Program Director of Information Technology at Geisinger Health System. Mr Younkin is responsible for development of the Keystone Health Information Exchange (KeyHIE), an established regional health information exchange (HIE) organization in Pennsylvania that is currently sharing healthcare information between several disparate healthcare organizations. He has managed both planning and implementation grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and quality as well as a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to expand the HIE.
KeyHIE currently includes thirteen member organizations, representing twelve hospitals, more than 90 clinics, skilled care, long-term care and home health organizations with a goal of serving all 53 hospitals and 9,000 physicians in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Today the exchange receives data from 7 hospitals and 42 clinics and is in use by more than 250 clinicians in three emergency departments and physician office settings. More than 385,000 patients have signed authorizations, allowing their information to be shared for treatment purposes through this exchange which is the largest in Pennsylvania and one of a few in the nation using the national standards promulgated by the Health Information Technology Standards panel (HITSP) under the Department of Health and Human Services.
Mr Younkin is also responsible for developing Geisinger's Telehealth program through a contract with the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Health Care Pilot Program.
Mr Younkin has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Computer Science with more than 20 years of healthcare IT experience including management of large implementation projects at numerous hospitals. He is a contributing author to the Guide to Establishing a Regional Health Information Organization (HIMSS,2001).