IT Solutions Providers: Your Health IT Clients Are Making HIE Progress
By Megan Williams, contributing writer
More Than 75 Percent Of Hospitals Exchanged Health Information With Outside Providers In 2014
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has released a report on the behavior of U.S., non-federal acute hospitals that covers the years 2008 to 2014. It is especially important as the effectiveness of health information exchanges and interoperability initiatives comes into question, and as the ONC makes bigger moves in pushing the country toward higher levels of interoperability. Monitoring trends in stakeholder behavior and results will become increasingly important as time goes on.
Findings
The highlight statistic of the report is illustrated in a graph that shows the progression of exchange by hospitals of health information with outside providers. The number moved from 41 percent in 2008 to 76 percent in 2014. The graph also overlays the initiation points of MU (Meaningful Use) Stage 2 and the State HIE (Health Information Exchange) Program.
Additionally, the report provides a map of the growth of health information exchanges by state. As of last year, 47 states and the District Of Colombia had a minimum of 60 percent of their hospitals electronically exchanging key clinical data with outside providers. Only 10 states had accomplished this in 2010. Across that same time period, the rate of exchange across all 50 states jumped from between 24 and 67 percent to 42 and 100 percent.
The report also found that hospital-to-hospital communications increased by 55 percent between 2013 and 2014.
Data Types Being Exchanged
In relation to the types of data being exchanged, it was found that radiology and laboratory reports continued to lead in comparison to clinical care summaries and medication histories, but that all four types had increased within the report period. The largest jump occurred between 2013 and 2014.
The industry saw a 176 percent jump since 2008 in the exchange of medication histories by hospitals with outside providers, and an increase of 57 percent since last year alone.
Clinical care summary exchange also increased with 42 states reporting that the majority of their hospitals exchanged summaries electronically with outside providers. This is a stark contrast to the 2010 rates, in which no states saw a majority of hospitals engaging in the exchange with outside providers.
Overall the report found that exchange of electronic information is increasing and that hospitals are not only involved in care delivery, but also play a crucial role in care coordination with providers in different types of settings. This will become an increasingly important role as care coordination takes a front seat as a national healthcare priority.