Pros And Cons Of Health Information Exchange (HIE)

Health Information Exchange (HIE) supports both transferring and sharing of health related information that is usually stored in multiple organizations, while maintaining the context and integrity of the information being exchanged (HIE, 2014). The goal of health information exchange is to expedite access to and retrieve clinical data to provide safe efficient, effective, equitable, timelier patient-centered care (HIE, 2014). HIE “provides access and retrieval of patient information to authorized users in order to provide safe, efficient, effective, and timely patient care” (HIE, 2014).

Healthcare providers and patients have since been allowed to securely access and share medical information electronically using the electronic health information exchange (HIE) system, thus improving quality care, safety, cost and swiftness.

McDonald (1997) points out that health care data is siloed in multiple areas that are inaccessible to others. This kind of management of patient data does not serve the patient well. It is for this reason that SCEMS approached Providence and Swedish hospitals to propose implementation of HDE. Moreover, as stated in the McDonald article a feasible way to integrate data from disparate sources is through the use of interfaces such as the HDE. In addition, a problem that exists in the integration of these two data sources is the fact that the hospital system communicates via the standard HL7 language, while the pre-hospital system communicates via XML. Fortunately, the HDE structure accounts for this difference by translating back and forth between the two different languages.

The deployment of HIE integrated with Sutter’s EHR has transformed efficiency, safety and quality of care for their patients since reliable information pertinent to patients’ medical history can be easily shared. This is pivotal in case of emergencies, when 32% of the time providers lack adequate patient information. By accessing

It assists the Doctors with the correct and updated medical and health records of the patient. All records will be easily and safely transferable from one health care provider to another as necessary. Patient can access his/her medical and health records online. With that being said, HIE eliminates a patient from needing to run from one doctor to another for paperwork and signature. It decreases the chances of a doctor giving the patient the wrong dose of medicine. It removes the chances that the nurse could misread what prescription the doctor wrote. HIE is a very smart way to properly manage an individual’s EMR and EHR.

Electronic health information exchange allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health care providers and patients to access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information electronically improving the speed, quality, safety and cost of patient care. In this paper I am going to explain the challenges of exchanging health information, privacy and security concerns, cost of set up and maintenance. Also, the three different types of exchanges. The benefits of health information exchange.

The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act encouraged and mandated the use of health information exchange (HIE) technology in the healthcare industry. The time had finally come to enter into the electronic age, and learn how to integrate electronic health records (EHRs) into their environment. Evolution and revolution are never easy, and several issues will arise during the transition. As EHR utilization spread through healthcare organizations, problems with interoperability became evident. How could healthcare organizations successfully achieve interoperability, and collect consistent patient data? A data dictionary may be the key to unlocking an accurate and efficient HIE.

The problem is fragmented electronic health records (EHRs) that lack communication and availability. Interoperability does not benefit the patient or the healthcare provider. “In healthcare, interoperability is the ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, exchange data, and use the information

There are many challenges associated with HHR. For example, there must be additional instructions to find the storage locations of patients’ health information. The instructions must show whether the documents are in electronic, paper, or scanned format. An additional process to link all of documentation formats needs to be deployed so that patients’ data can be collected and saved accurately. Not all the time those extra helps are available. Therefore, composing and organizing a completed HHR take a significant amount of time for health information management (HIM) professionals to gather all paper records and retrieve digital documents. The functions of HIM professionals encounter many challenges when working with HHR. The privacy and security policies for different types of records must be fully reinforced. Moreover, the updated data for each HHR have to be kept in detail for accuracy of information and easy accessing. In case of disclosing information requests, HIM professionals face a big burden of locating and verifying the information that is needed to fulfill the reasonable demand while limiting the release of information to the minimum. HIM professionals sometimes have to search through multiple systems to find the requested documents. According to Dimick, another disadvantage of the HHR system is when healthcare organizations participate in quality

Health Information Exchange (HIE) has become a major component in today’s healthcare. Health information exchange provides a secure way for providers to appropriately access and electronically share a patient’s medical information. Therefore, reducing duplicate testing, minimizing medication errors and providing a link among electronic health records (EHR) in order to provide quality healthcare.

HIE face a range of challenges as they try to get hundreds and even thousands of participants in sharing data. Getting data in front of doctors and other clinicians is one of the biggest challenges HIEs face. Ideally, it would be delivered directly to a providers' EMR system, so when a patient goes to an outside lab for blood tests, the results would show up in the electronic record at the doctor's office, and the doctor would be notified that the results are there. However, with limited EMR use across the country, HIEs have had to provide alternative delivery methods. HIE is considered to be one of the key components of the national health IT infrastructure being established by the HITECH Act. Policymakers and health care providers believe this health IT infrastructure will produce a number of benefits, many of which are directly related to HIE.

This decreases the chance of medical errors, in that current treatment plans are accessible, and therefore interactions from an additional treatment plan are predictable, enabling the provider to choose the best plan with the least unwanted interaction. As well, the access to diagnostic tests and laboratory tests through HIE, allow all disciplines to previously ordered tests and the results. This decreases the duplication of orders, as well, as limits the patient to the risks associated with the tests. The greatest benefit of HIE is continuity of care. Through HIE, providers can provide continuous care, which is cost effective and delivers a greater quality of care. “Continuity of care improves the uptake of preventive care, enhances adherence to therapy, and increases patient and physician satisfaction; as well, there is increasing evidence that patients' health status and chronic disease outcomes are improved with continuity of care” (Rosser & Schultz, 2007).

Health Information Exchange is the electronic movement of healthcare information amongst organizations according to the national standards. HIE as it is widely known, serves the purpose of providing a safe, timely, and efficient way of accessing or retrieving patient clinical data. Health Information Exchange allows for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other vital healthcare professionals to have appropriate access and securely share vital medical information regarding patient care. Health Information Exchange has been in efforts of developing for over 20 years in the United States. In 1990 the Community Health Management Information Systems (CHMIS) program was formed by the Hartford Foundation to foster a development of a centralized data repository in seven different geographically defined communities. Many of the communities struggled in securing a cost-effective technology with interoperable data sources and gaining political support. In the mid-1990s a similar initiative began known as the Community Health Information Networks (CHINs) with the intention of sharing data between providers in a more cost-effective manner. In 2004, the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research Health Information Technology Portfolio was funded $166 million in grants and contracts to improve the quality and safety to support more patient-centered care. This was the beginning of the progress we have seen in HIE today. Health Information Exchange devolvement serves the purpose of improving

The Health information exchange or also known as HIE is the sending of healthcare-related data electronically to facilities, health information organizations and government agencies according to national standards. The goal is to be able to access and retrieve data more efficient, safer, and to improve the quality of care and patient safety and reduce healthcare costs.

Healthcare institutions or hospitals play a very significant role in the society. So, high-level security, interoperability, extensibility and seamless access of the systems, would enable each healthcare institution to exchange patient’s data and information across its system boundary while still protecting patient’s privacy. Also, it would make ease for users of each healthcare system to perform better in daily operation. Unfortunately, due to the low-security issue, non-interoperable, and inextensible of the current existing healthcare systems, which making difficult for each healthcare institution to share and exchange patient’s information and data with other healthcare institutions. As a result, the work productivity of doctors and healthcare