There is an increasing demand for interoperability amongst healthcare providers and patients for access to and sharing of a patient’s medical records electronically. Providers want to participate in the exchange of data to improve patient care and outcomes. Health information exchanges (HIEs) facilitate the exchange of patient medical information electronically – securely and efficiently. In 2019, the utilization of local, state, and regional health information exchanges by hospitals increased to over 50-percent [1].
Types of Health Information Exchange Data:
There are three types of HIE that each offer unique access to health information [2].
1. Consumer Mediated Exchange - In this type of exchange, patients have more control over their records and their use among healthcare providers.
2. Query Based Exchange - In this type of exchange, a healthcare provider can request and search patient medical information across multiple different healthcare providers.
3. Directed Exchange - In this type of exchange, coordinated care is facilitated by a bi-directional transfer of patient medical information between healthcare providers.
Why Practices Need Health Information Exchanges?
HIE helps healthcare providers provide high quality care to patients by improving the speed and cost of patient outcomes. According to Qsource [3], the transfer of health information helps practices to:
1. Avoid errors – interoperability is only successful when there is a reduction of errors, which leads to cost effectiveness. In addition, avoiding readmissions can also be cost effective.
2. Improve diagnoses – when healthcare providers have increased access to tests and information about a patient, patient care is more effective and efficient.
3. Reduce testing – unnecessary testing improves patient satisfaction, promotes quality of care, and reduces costs.
As the demand for HIE increases, medical providers should work with their EHR software provider to implement a solution that meets the needs of their patients.
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Sources:
[1] Jason, C. (2021, March 26). Stages of Health Information Exchange Implementation. EHRIntelligence. https://ehrintelligence.com/features/stages-of-health-information-exchange-implementation.
[2] CapMinds. (2020, November 16) “The Essential Guide To Health Information Exchange.” CapMinds Blog The Essential Guide To Health Information Exchange. CapMinds. www.capminds.com/blog/the-essential-guide-to-health-information-exchange/#.
[3] Qsource. (2019, November 6). QPP: What is Health Information Exchange and How to Make it Work for Your Practice. Qsource. https://www.qsource.org/qpp-what-is-health-information-exchange-and-how-to-make-it-work-for-your-practice/.