BackgroundElectronic health (eHealth) interventions may improve the quality of care by providing timely, accessible information about one patient or an entire population. Electronic patient care information forms the nucleus of computerized health information systems. However, interoperability among systems depends on the adoption of information standards. Additionally, investing in technology systems requires cost-effectiveness studies to ensure the sustainability of processes for stakeholders.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to assess cost-effectiveness of the use of electronically available inpatient data systems, health information exchange, or standards to support interoperability among systems.MethodsAn overview of systematic reviews was conducted, assessing the MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, LILACS, and IEEE Library databases to identify relevant studies published through February 2016. The search was supplemented by citations from the selected papers. The primary outcome sought the cost-effectiveness, and the secondary outcome was the impact on quality of care. Independent reviewers selected studies, and disagreement was resolved by consensus. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR).ResultsThe primary search identified 286 papers, and two papers were manually included. A total of 211 were systematic reviews. From the 20 studies that were selected after screening the title and abstract, 14 were deemed ineligible, and six met the inclusion criteria. The interventions did not show a measurable effect on cost-effectiveness. Despite the limited number of studies, the heterogeneity of electronic systems reported, and the types of intervention in hospital routines, it was possible to identify some preliminary benefits in quality of care. Hospital information systems, along with information sharing, had the potential to improve clinical practice by reducing staff errors or incidents, improving automated harm detection, monitoring infections more effectively, and enhancing the continuity of care during physician handoffs.ConclusionsThis review identified some benefits in the quality of care but did not provide evidence that the implementation of eHealth interventions had a measurable impact on cost-effectiveness in hospital settings. However, further evidence is needed to infer the impact of standards adoption or interoperability in cost benefits of health care; this in turn requires further research.

Background Around the world, people receive care at various institutions; therefore, clinical information is recorded either on paper or distributed on different information systems with reduced capabilities for sharing data. One approach to handling the complex nature of the health information systems and making it interoperable is the two-level modeling, and the ISO 13606 standard is an option to support this model. A regionally governed EHR program in Brazil proposed to use the ISO 13606 standard and archetypes. This program includes an EHR repository for consolidating the longitudinal electronic record of patients' health. Objective This article aims to present the results and lessons learned from a proof-of-concept (POC) for integrating the Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare Information System (SISMater) developed by the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) with the EHR system developed by the Department of Healthcare for the State of Minas Gerais (SES/MG). Methods The design of the architecture and software development were driven by the content to be exchanged between the SISMater system and the EHR system and the usage of XML transformation to translate an ISO 13606 EHR extract and vice versa. This POC did not include tests related to revision objects according to ISO 13606 reference model. Results The software architecture and software components required for this POC were proposed and tested. The EHR system validated the syntax and semantic and persisted the extract in the EHR repository. Complete results can be accessed at https://github.com/pocppsus/repository. Conclusion The approach for using XML transformations could make easier the process for ISO 13606 noncompliant EMR systems to exchange EHR data with the SES/MG EHR system.

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The Obstetric Inpatient Discharge Summary is a document considered essential in the complex care network for health care continuity. AIMS: The study proposes a model for the transmission of clinical information contained in the discharge summary with the aim of exchanging the information between electronic systems and defining standards, allowing the testing of obstetric records interoperability, referring, in particular, to births. METHODS: Information was modeled using the methodology for developing archetypes proposed in the International Standardization Organization 13606 standard. RESULTS: The electronic document was implemented in a university hospital, and the information was divided into two sections, one containing maternal data and the other neonate(s) information. An Electronic Health Record extract in eXtensible Markup Language, containing structured clinical data, will constitute the vector of transmission system from hospital information to primary care units. CONCLUSION: The model proposed is expected to subsidize information semantic persistence, contributing to health care quality.