Geisinger Health System will build a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) with two community hospitals that could eventually provide thousands of doctors at dozens of hospitals access to patient health records electronically, the Pennsylvania company said Tuesday.

The platform built on Vignette Corp. software tools, along with a record locator service and master patient index, will give physicians throughout the region access to critical patient information outside Geisinger Health System's immediate network. The system will provide better coordination of care. Geisinger offers health plans cover more than 240,000 lives, supported by 10,000 employees of which 650 are doctors.

The project will include a record locator to create a master-patient index. Information stored in <a = "http: www.techweb.com encyclopedia defineterm.jhtml?term="database&x=31&y=7""> databases

will include laboratory results, pathology reports and discharge summaries. All accessed online. "If I know you had a CAT Scan at the local community hospital within the last week and came in for a headache, I probably won't repeat that," said Frank Richards, chief information officer at Geisinger. "Today, I have no way to know that unless you tell me."