Health Information Exchange And The Cost Of Set Up And Maintenance

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).

Health information may be exchanged in three forms; directed exchange, query-based and consumer mediated exchanged.

The main reason institutions are switching to the new technology of exchanging health information is specifically to reduce costs and help improve health care quality. In this case study that is what San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center wanted exactly, to effortlessly exchange patient’s medical information. San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center which is a rural hospital in Alamosa Colorado is one of the many hospitals and providers that can benefit from this change. In 2004 AHRQ signed a contract to the University of Colorado Health and sciences Center, which later on developed a point-of-care inquiry system for four healthcare organizations in the Denver region. The system allowed emergency room clinicians within the four locations to exchange medical data. They were able to sufficiently and rapidly retrieve and send patient medical histories, x-rays, medication lists, and all problem lists. The AHRQ contract also help started the development of the

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.

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.

With the enthusiasm for health information technology, potential risks and problems associated with electronic health records have received far less attention. Three fundamental security goals are essential to EHR systems: confidentiality, integrity and availability (Haas e26). Patients lose the protection of implied trust domain of medical institutions due to their medical record maintenance performed by non-medical enterprises (e27). Depending on the paradigm, enabling access to an increased number of users poses threats to security and privacy.

One main privacy and security concern when talking about a health information exchange is patient matching. Patient matching is used to match patients to medical records that come from multiple healthcare providers. According to Godlove and Ball there are two key elements to the use of HIE, “The first is confirming that the requesting and responding HIOs’ patients are one and the same. The second is confirming that the patient has consented to the exchange of the health information

All companies involved in any type of medical field whether social care, mental care or physical care, are affected by the need for Health Information Exchange. This includes small organizations to large multi-hospital organizations. Healthcare has become a competitive field with organizations needing to control their costs, while keeping clients by providing the best care possible. Patients have come to realize that if not satisfied with their care, they will go elsewhere. This has allowed for a competitive

When it comes to healthcare there are a lot of things that have evolved. One in particular is that of the patients’ health care records and how they are written as well as being stored. In this paper I will be discussing the evolution of this process via the Health Information Exchange or HIE. This will involve the history of the system, problems that are involved in this evolution, as well as the security issues that will need to be addressed when moving from different types of records.

Health information exchange and information technology are essential tools that healthcare providers and consumers often utilize to assist in improving health care. An electronic health information exchange promises potential benefits for health care systems through improved clinical care, reduced cost and the needed elements for a national health information network. As with any other industry, the exchange of such information has its many benefit, but it

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

Health information technology (HIT) involves trading of health information in an electronic format to advance health care, reduce health expenditures, improve work efficiency, decrease medication errors, and make health care more accessible. Maintaining privacy and security of health information is crucial when technology is involved. Health information exchange plays an important role in improving the quality and delivery of health care and cost-effectiveness. “There is very little electronic information sharing among clinicians, hospitals, and other providers, despite considerable investments in health information technology (IT) over the past five years” (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014, p. 1).

14. Capability to exchange key clinical information among providers of care and patient-authorized entities electronically

Although the EHR is still in a transitional state, this major shift that electronic medical records are taking is bringing many concerns to the table. Two concerns at the top of the list are privacy and standardization issues. In 1996, U.S. Congress enacted a non-for-profit organization called Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law establishes national standards for privacy and security of health information. HIPAA deals with information standards, data integrity, confidentiality, accessing and handling your medical information. They also were designed to guarantee transferred information be protected from one facility to the next (Meridan, 2007). But even with the HIPAA privacy rules, they too have their shortcomings. HIPAA can’t fully safeguard the limitations of who’s accessible to your information. A short stay at your local

Health information is a fundamental piece of data which represents a person, business, organization, or a community. This data is vital in monitoring and coordination of care for individuals and communities. It not only monitors and coordinates patient care, but reduces costly mistakes and prevent duplication of treatments as well as taking a pivotal role in preserving, securing, and protecting personal health information. Since, this information is extremely essential and sensitive, it must remain secure and safe to prevent frauds and cyber-attacks. First of all, this paper discusses vitality of the health information in regards to individuals, professionals, and organizations along with its benefits to improve overall quality of life. Secondly, it discusses the role of information technology in various aspects of the industry and the what the future holds within IT.