Communities' Readiness for Health Information Exchange: The National Landscape in 2004

Abstract

The authors analyzed data from 134 responses from communities in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Communities are enthusiastic about moving forward with health information exchange to create LHIIs to improve the efficiency, quality, and safety of care. They have identified significant local sources of investment and plan to use some clinical data standards but not as broadly as was expected. The communities have not yet developed the specific technical approaches or the sustainable business models that will be required. Many communities are interested in creating an LHII and are developing the leadership commitment needed to translate that interest into an operational reality. Clinical information standards can be incorporated into a community's plans as often as they need to be. Communities have to overcome funding issues, develop deeper understanding of the technical and organizational issues, and aggressively share their learning to succeed within their community and to help other communities succeed.

Knowledge sharing using codification and collaboration technologies to improve health care: lessons from the public sector

“…The introduction of IT, however, causes fundamental transformation in the delivery of health-care services, and organizational issues often present as large -if not larger -barriers to adoption (Overhage et al, 2005;. Small organizations, including critical access hospitals and physician practices operated by just one to three doctors, find it particularly hard to adopt and use health IT due to costs and a lack of knowledge in how to select, implement, and integrate IT into the delivery of health care.…”

Systematic Review of Health Information Exchange in Primary Care Practices

“…A notable increase in publications occurred after the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT was established in 2004. 6 Although approximately half of peer-reviewed articles presented original findings (20 of 39; 51%), only 2 reported results from a randomized controlled trial 7,8 ; 8 others reported survey results, 4 described "case studies" of HIEs, 3 reported qualitative studies of HIE participants, and 2 analyzed cost. Expert opinion made up 26% of the peerreviewed publications in the form of 10 editorials, letters, and commentaries.…”

Origins and progress in surveillance systems

“…This commitment must be underscored by the recognition and acceptance of the needs for both community health and individual privacy and confidentiality [42]. Health information exchange (HIE) systems illustrate the potential for distributed models for data collection and access with potentially dramatic impact on the practice of public health surveillance [43]. For example, the HIE in Indiana (USA) links payers, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, physician offices, ambulance centers, and public health departments throughout the state.…”