Background

The Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL), the major teaching hospitals in Arizona, The University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Arizona Area Health Education Centers have joined in a cooperative project to use the Internet to reach the information resources they need. Together, these organizations developed the ideas and structure for what is now the Arizona Health Information Network, Inc. (AZHIN).

Initial funding came from a generous grant made by The Flinn Foundation of Phoenix, Arizona.

AZHIN has established a statewide computer-based system for information, communication and education. AZHIN resources and services will ultimately be available to all hospitals, clinics, health sciences libraries, health sciences educational institutions and individual practitioners in Arizona.

Easily available information at patient care sites fosters more informed health care decisions, reinforces education patterns of using electronic resources and encourages in users the practice of consulting the most recent information. AZHIN will contribute to improved education and improved clinical practice, since students, faculty and practitioners will have easier access to the current literature along with significant support and encouragement to use it.

The Arizona Health Information Network reflects substantial cooperation and creative thinking on the part of representatives from member institutions and institutions wishing to participate in the future. AZHIN is strongly rooted in the cooperation and collaboration among hospital and academic health sciences librarians that has characterized the health sciences information and education fields in Arizona for years. Project planning and institutional commitment to ongoing support indicate a growing spirit of community among Arizona's providers of health care health sciences research and health sciences education. AZHIN will strengthen that community and raise its standard of performance.