DAYTON — The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association and Cincinnati-based HealthBridge will announce a collaboration Monday that will create one of the largest functioning health information exchanges in the nation.

The exchange will ultimately link 50 hospitals and 7,500 physicians from Cincinnati to potentially as far north as Lima, said Bryan Bucklew, GDAHA’s president and CEO.

The additional health record connections should improve the quality of care available to patients and lower costs by reducing duplication of care, Bucklew said.

The exchange will enable health officials using the Epic, NextGen and Allscripts systems to exchange electronic health record information, Bucklew said. Hospitals and doctors within GDAHA’s system will pay a subscription fee to access HealthBridge’s existing interfaces between those electronic health record systems, he said.

Connectivity through HealthBridge will start with nine hospitals that are part of Premier Health Partners and Kettering Health Network. By the end of 2011, 80 percent of GDAHA hospitals, CompuNet Clinical Laboratories and Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County will be connected to the Greater Dayton Area Health Information Network. An estimated 80 percent of area doctors will be connected by the end of 2012. Both GDAHA and HealthBridge have been designated regional extension centers.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.