The Harris Corp. continues to build a Florida Health Information Exchange as the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) announced Tuesday that five more organizations will join the network, which enables health care providers to access patient information via the Internet.

Two years ago AHCA entered into a $19 million contract with Harris to create a statewide exchange. The framework of such an exchange is similar to the software and protocols that allow a consumer to access safely a bank account over an Internet site. A health information exchange allows doctors to transfer records and get texts results digitally. Emergency room personnel can quickly obtain medical histories of an unconscious person with a driver’s license or other ID.

The five new participants in the Florida Health Information Exchange are Broward Health and its 30 health care facilities, Health First which operates four hospitals in Brevard County, Martin Health System which has four hospitals and medical centers in Martin and St. Lucie counties, Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach and the Tampa Bay Regional Health Information Organization, which represents hospitals in Hillsborough County.

"We are pleased to continue to have more participants join the exchange and to see increased use of electronic health records,” AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek said. “This effort will ultimately lead to enhancements in patient care through greater coordination among providers.”

The Florida Health Information Exchange now has 17 participants.

The state contract requires Harris to provide technical assistance to up to 20 groups wanting to be part of the exchange. Organizations have until Dec. 1 to submit an application to be one of the final three groups to be what AHCA calls an assisted on-boarder. After July 1, 2014, organizations can continue to join the exchange, but technical assistance will not be available through the state contract with Harris.