"Our goal is to have information to follow patients wherever and whenever they seek care and support better care coordination," she said.

The HIE marketplace is a cornucopia of services, both public and private.

The federal government has already poured millions of dollars into creating HIEs at the regional and that act as engines for providers to exchange patient information. The federal government is also in the process of developing a , which it hopes will allow patients and their health information to travel anywhere.

Private vendors, , have also created -based patient health information exchanges.