Date Exchanges Accelerate

Research published last month in Health Affairs from the Office of the National Coordination for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) show that health information exchanges between hospitals and outside providers jumped 41% in the last 4 years.  Highlights of the new study indicated on the HHS website include: 

·         58% of hospitals exchanged daily with providers outside of their organization in 2012.

·         84% of hospitals that adopted EHR and participated in a regional HIE exchanged information with providers outside of their organization.

·         Between 2008-2012, there were significant increases in the percentage of hospitals exchanging radiology reports, laboratory results, clinical care summaries, and medication lists with hospitals and providers outside of their organization.

·         The proportion of hospitals that adopted at least a basic EHR and participated in an HIE grew more than fivefold from 2008 to 2012.

·         Hospitals with basic EHR systems participating in HIEs had the highest rates of hospital exchange activity in 2012, regardless of the organizational affiliation of the provider exchanging data or the type of clinical information exchanged.

·         However only about 1/3 of hospitals exchanged clinical care summaries or medication lists with outside providers. 

To see more about state-level estimates for several of the measures included in the study, visit ONC’s Health IT Dashboard at http://dashboard.healthit.gov/.  The abstract of the Health Affairs study can be found at http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/8/1346.abstract. 

For more information, please contact Thomas N. Hutchinson, Krieg DeVault LLP, 12800 N. Meridian Street, Ste. 300, Carmel, IN  46032-5406, phone: 317-238-6254.