The healthcare sector’s investment in EHR and health IT implementation as well as the expansion ofhealth information exchange (HIE) throughout the nation may be showing positive results. The goals of HIE developments are centered on reducing redundant testing, reigning in skyrocketing healthcare costs, and improving patient care.
Over the last 10 years, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) awarded as much as $548 million in grants to states toward the development of health information exchange platforms throughout each region. While reducing redundant testing and enabling easy access to key patient data are vital goals for HIE developments, what achievements has health information exchange gained over the last decade?
This is the exact question that Brookings Institution fellow Niam Yaraghi attempted to uncover in his research. Essentially, Yaraghi tried to find out if health information exchange platforms are effective and whether they are returning on the financial investment the federal government put into the program.
The researcher looked at a health information exchange platform among two emergency departments in Western New York and considered the effects of accessing patient data through the HIE. The results from the Brookings Institution research shows that using a health information exchange led to a 25 percent decrease in the number of laboratory tests conducted as well as 26 percent drop in the amount of radiology examinations.
When looking at the second emergency care department, Yaraghi found that the number of radiology exams fell by a total of 47 percent after the implementation of the health information exchange platform.
After investing in HIE developments over the last decade, the federal government and healthcare sector is finally seeing a return on its investment within the health IT sphere. HIE expansion will play a strong role in improving EHR interoperability over the coming years as well as enhance the quality of healthcare services throughout the industry.
As previously reported by EHRIntelligence.com, Scripps Health and Sharp Healthcare are two organizations that will take part in joining a health information exchange network in San Diego. The move is thought to improve care coordination as well as provide healthcare professionals with quick and easy access to critical patient data.
Along with this news, the Delaware Health Information Network, the region’s HIE platform, recently welcomed Union Hospital to take part in its real-time access to patient data, according to the Cecil Whig publication. With patients who visit treatment facilities across the border of Maryland and Delaware, physician access to their medical records should lead to quality care improvements.
“Our patients are fairly fluid and dynamic, they frequently cross borders for treatment,” Anne Lara, Union Hospital’s Chief Information Officer, told the news source. “Previously, if they went to another Maryland facility, we have a great relationship with CRISP, so we could easily exchange a patient’s record. We took it a step farther though and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if a patient went to Christiana Hospital (in Delaware), their info was already in the database?’ The whole premise is that we want to make sure that providers of all sorts have the information that they need in real-time, so they can make the best possible treatment decisions for their patients.”
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