CHINs: making the important decisions

Community health information networks (CHINs) are an evolving concept. In their most basic form, CHINs provide a structure for sharing financial and clinical information among a defined group of entities. However, several key decisions affect how a CHIN will function. Among those decisions are what "community" will be included, what technical infrastructure to use, what organization or group of organizations will lead the CHIN development effort, what types of information will be shared, and how to safe-guard confidentiality.