Mounting pressures for health care reform are driving a variety of changes in the health care industry. The traditional model of isolated health care entities is giving way to the formation of integrated health care delivery systems (Peters, 1994). The success of these systems rests in part on their ability to tie together geographically dispersed players and integrate operations to provide economic incentives for all participants. In this evolving health care environment, information provides the power to control and manage patient care and to substantially reduce health care delivery costs. Movement away from traditional, extensive paper processes to electronic, interactive systems is expected to generate significant savings and overall improvement in care due to improved availability and timeliness of information (Marcoux, 1994). Unfortunately, broadly-based information systems to support the administrative and clinical information needs of integrated delivery systems are rarely found. Regional health information networks (RHINs), also referred to as community health information networks, are an emergent form of interorganizational information system (IOS) currently under development as one answer to the information needs of the changing health care industry (Bergman, 1994). A RHIN is an integrated collection of computer and telecommunications capabilities that transport patient clinical and financial information among health care entities within a specific geographic area. RHINs provide the capability for data access and sharing across a widespectrum of health care industry participants. This paper presents an exploratory study of one of the first RHINs to be developed and implemented in the United States. The purpose of the study was to identify the current status of the network in terms of user information satisfaction and utilization, and to identify key implementation issues of the RHIN. Prior research on the development/implementation of interorganizational systems and the adoption of innovations formed the basis for interpretation of thestudy findings
