In fact, the Indianapolis-based IHIE is part of a consortium that was awarded a contract this month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a prototype for a national IT infrastructure for exchanging health information.

The IHIE was created in February 2004 by the five health care providers that are using its network as well as a physician-led IT group and a public/private partnership that included local universities, the combined government of Indianapolis and Marion County, and several businesses.

Since late last year, the exchange has been rolling out a clinical messaging service to provide its membership, which includes community physicians at 18 hospitals, with electronic access to pathology, laboratory, radiology and electrocardiogram reports.

Two of the health care operators went live with the service in November 2004. A third went live this October, and the other two are expected to go live in December and January, officials said.

So far, between 2,400 and 2,500 of the 3,000-plus doctors in the system are receiving reports from the clinical messaging service.