North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS) is using integration technology from Quovadx Inc. (Nasdaq: QVDX) for multiple projects, including dealing with HIPAA.

Quovadx is being used to assist the State with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, the streamlining of information between 15 state hospitals and the posting of administrative information to a state subsidized childcare program. Quovadx is headquartered in Englewood, CO, near Denver.

North Carolina has an ongoing deal with Quovadx, says Karen Tomczak, director of the HIPAA office for DHHS. Tomczak says the arrangement was originally made with Hublink, which Quovodx has upgraded into a new product called Integrator. The “blanket” contract expired on June 30 and was renewed by the State, allowing agencies such as DHHS to use the software for a set licensing fee ($40,000 per license), plus hourly resource costs as needed, Tomczak says.

“The State has a contract under which we pay licensing fees for the integration product, so it’s not like they’re coming in to do the implementation,” Tomczak says. “We’re using the product at a set fee for any of the state agencies. We then go in and hire resources on an hourly basis, but it’s not like we’re paying them to do the whole thing.”

The State of North Carolina has been a Quovadx customer for five years. The technology is also being used by the Department of Correction to update pharmacy information within its prisons.

The latest project to be adopted within DHHS will use Quovadx technology to help the state achieve HIPAA compliance. In addition, DHHS is using the technology to streamline information between 15 state hospitals, all using one Hospital Information System (HIS). Quovadx will provide the technology to connect disparate hospital sites, making relevant patient data available to physicians, laboratories and pharmacies via a central HIS.

The third project at DHHS will utilize Quovadx integration technology to update and maintain payment and claims information at the state level for its seven-county subsidized childcare program.

Quovadx: www.quovadx.com

N.C. DHHS: www.dhhs.state.nc.us