Health Information Exchange System

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.

After decades of paper based medical records, a new type of record keeping has surfaced - the Electronic Health Record (EHR). EHR is an electronic or digital format concept of an individual’s past and present medical history. It is the principle storage place for data and information about the health care services provided to an individual patient. It is maintained by a provider over time and capable of being shared across different healthcare settings by network-connected information systems. Such records may include key administrative and clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider. Examples of such records may include: demographics, physician notes, problems or injuries, medications and allergies, vital

Health Information Exchange (HIE) is an electronic way for health care providers, patients, and payers to access and securely share medical information. There are data breaches everyday so patient and providers are concerned about the privacy and security of the HIE. Patients fear that sensitive health information related to dire diseases will be disclosed and used against them in decisions related to health insurance coverage or employment according to Mertz (2009, p.1). Providers are concerned that they will be breaking some health privacy laws of different states if they use a HIE. However, in essence as long as the HIE is following the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) Privacy and Security Rules then the provider and patients should be safe. This is because HIPPA regulates covered entities such as healthcare providers, health insurers, healthcare clearing houses. They all must follow HIPPA regulations when accessing, using and disclosing your medical information.

Medicine has come a long way in the past few decades. Today’s doctors and nurses have some amazing tools at their disposals. The latest high tech equipment, modern pharmaceuticals and procedures but in many cases the most important tool that is needed is information. Patient information to be more precise is what is needed. Correct and up to the minute information about a patients history is a vital part of treatment. And yet for many, access to this most important vital tool still lingers in the dark ages. It can be found scattered around filing systems in different offices, highly subject to retrieval by hand and accessible only by phone or fax. There is a

An Electronic Health Record is a computerized form of a patient’s medical chart. These records allow information to be readily available to authorized providers during a patient’s encounter with the healthcare system. These systems do not only contain medical histories, current medications and insurance information, they also track patients’ diagnoses, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and lab tests/results (source). The fundamental aspect of EHRs is that they are able to share a patient’s information quickly across service lines and even between different healthcare organizations. Information is at the fingertips of lab techs, primary care physicians, pharmacies, clinics, etc. The

Health information exchange (HIE) is the process of transporting medical-related information electronically between healthcare providers. Health information exchange was formed by the Hartford Foundation in 1990, with the establishment of Community Health Management Information Systems (CHMIS). Today, there are many models and forms that support health information exchange. Healthcare providers and organizations may have challenges with this new way of exchanging patient information, however, there are plenty of advantages that not only benefit the providers but the patients as well.

It is hard to take a snapshot of the current technology used in healthcare as tomorrow a new innovative idea is right around the corner. A major change that has occurred over time comes from the use of electronic health records (EHR). Electronic health records usage has been on the rise for several years. It has been used by physicians, ambulatory staff, and HMOs. Since data can be easily altered the copies that must be certified for any medical provider to reference. There is a criterion for the composition of this data due to the exchanging of patient information within an interoperable medical

Health Information Exchange is a fairly new concept in the healthcare field. There were several precursors to HIE that were in use throughout the United States, these include Community Health Management Information Systems, Community Health Information Networks, and Regional Health Information Organizations. There are several data factors that make up a Health Information Exchange, the Electronic Health Record and the Personal Health Record. One of the biggest concerns about medical information is keeping it safeguarded, and there are three ways to accomplish this, with administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. Finally, there are a number of benefits to having a secure Health Information Exchange. The benefits include; accessibility, wherein multiple users can access the data at the same time, communication, wherein providers can share information quickly with no corruption of critical data, and better healthcare management. By building disease and chronic care registries, symptoms, treatment, and outcomes are tracked. The Health Information Exchange also enables contagious disease and bioterrorism tracking, but reporting symptoms to the CDC daily.

In today’s fragmented healthcare system, clinical decisions are made based on the available information. Unfortunately, the available information is not always complete. Patients have been using an increasing number of providers and health systems, many of which have no way to effectively communicate clinical information. This forces healthcare providers to make decisions based on incomplete information at the cost of outcomes to the patients and dollars to the health system. It is estimated that the use of health information exchange (HIE) could save $78 billion in healthcare costs per year (Shortliffe, 2014, p425). A concerted effort to solve this problem began in 2009, when The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Health information exchange has become an increasingly important process in communication required in modern healthcare. This is so because currently, a person may be required to visit more than one specialist to treat diseases or manage diseased body conditions. Besides, sometimes a person could be involved in emergencies that require quick medical attention. During such times, it is not always possible to get the needed information readily. A reliable health information network is vital to ensure that a person’s medical records are easily retrievable from a secure database with authorized access. Health information allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health care providers and patients to appropriately access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information (HealthIT.gov). The use of health information systems improves the quality, speed, safety and reduces the costs of healthcare especially if done through online platforms. The current Affordable Care Act that was passed in 201o increased the relevance of Health Information Exchange because a patient can now easily and more affordably see many specialists who will need to share data about that patient for diagnosis and treatment.

Over the last two decades the government, industry, and academia have been incraesingly recognizing the importance of health information technology. Healthcare has tended to lag other industries (like communications and financial services) in transiting to electronic records. However, as proprietary electronic medical record (EMR) systems get deployed at healthcare organization, so does the need increase to exchange records via a Health Information

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 Exchange (HIE) allows health care professionals and consumers to securely access medical information electronically ("Official Information about Health Information Exchange (HIE) | Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov," n.d.). For example, the information and data that is scanned electronically would be exported to patients’ Electronic Health Record (EHR) which would reduce the chances of repeating patient tests, exams, blood work, etc. There are three categories of HIE: directed (used by providers to send patient information directly to another physician), query-based (used by providers to find and discover clinical resources for a patient), and consumer-mediated (gives patients access to their health information

“An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users.” (healthit.gov) The EHR mandate was created “to share information with other health care providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics – so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.” ("Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov", n.d., p. 1) The process has proved to be quite challenging for providers. As an

Electronic PHRs hold a great promise in improving health in today’s society of evolving technology. In simple terms, PHRs are “internet-based tools that allow individuals to access, manage, and share their health information” (Czaja, Zarcadoolas, Vaughon, Lee, Rockoff, and Levy, 2015, p. 492) that come with various functionalities such as communicating electronically to health care providers, scheduling future appointments, requesting prescription refills, accessing health management information, and reviewing and tracking personal health information and laboratory results (Czaja, et al., 2015). With such a convenient program on the tip of the our fingertips, PHRs are believed