Health Information Exchange
The global health sector is concerned with the inefficiency and ineffectiveness cropping up among its professionals and practitioners. As a result, policies, such as the health information exchange have been adopted in healthcare institutions. Health Information Exchange (HIE) gives the stakeholders in healthcare institutions, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, chemists and other healthcare professionals the opportunity of accessing and securely sharing medical information of patients (Roebuck 3). The objective of Health Information Exchange in healthcare institutions is to enhance or improve the speed, quality, cost, and safety of patient care services. In the recent years, HIE has played an integral role in elevating the healthcare sector as one of the most respected sectors across the globe.
In the US, a number of organizations have been set up to enhance or facilitate health information exchange. In achieving this, the organizations have transferred healthcare information electronically from one healthcare organization to another (Adler-Milstein et al. 668). Apart from enhancing the quality, speed, and safety of healthcare, the organizations have come up to support the secondary use of clinical data for research. Among the health information exchange organizations in the US is the Indianapolis Network for Patient Care (INPC), which has operated for two decades now. The organization serves Indianapolis though people from other states have also benefited from its services. The organization’s vital patient information, such as registration records, laboratory tests, medical history, and others are transferred electronically to other organizations to facilitate patient admission in the other organizations. Notably, all health information exchange organizations use a similar data model. The model often contains test and drug codes and names. A number of participants in the US are allowed to use the HIE organization: academic research institutions, major and regional hospital systems, regional and national reference laboratories, private pharmacies, and state, federal, and private payors (Adler-Milstein et al. 765).
Another state that benefits from health information exchange is the state of Virginia. The state has successfully implemented HIE, as indicated by the presence of HIE organizations in operation, such as MedVirginia, Tidewater, and NoVaRHIO. The three organizations ensure coordination among healthcare institutions in central, southwest, eastern, and northern Virginia. Apparently, MedVirgnia is the most famous and has established free clinics. The clinics have new registration and scheduling systems, have the ability of receiving automated results from all participating data suppliers, are connected to nearby hospitals through a secure clinical messaging system, can access automated and standardized systems for eligibility screening, and provide-prescribing services to patients (Vest and Larry 290). Conversely, since its inception, NoVaRHIO has greatly enhanced the health status of people who work and live in Northern Virginia. The organization has achieved this by enabling patients to have reliable and timely access to their electronic information and other vital health records. The organization has also struggled to maintain the privacy of patients’ health information. In fact, it has attracted a number of clients, despite it being a not for profit organization. The participants in this organization are doctors, nurses, lab representatives, and public health officials.
Health Information Exchange has played an integral role in improving the quality, speed, and efficiency of healthcare services. This is because patients can access their vital health records and information in different healthcare organizations using the same model. In the US, HIE has been successfully implemented in a number of states, such as Indiana and Virginia. The HIE organizations have greatly changed the healthcare sector in the US.
Works Cited
Adler-Milstein, Julia, Catherine M. DesRoches, and Ashish K. Jha. “Health information exchange among US hospitals.” The American journal of managed care 17.11 (2011): 761-768.
Adler-Milstein, Julia, David W. Bates, and Ashish K. Jha. “A survey of health information exchange organizations in the United States: implications for meaningful use.” Annals of internal medicine 154.10 (2011): 666-671.
Roebuck, Kevin. Hie – Health Information Exchange: High-impact Strategies – What You Need to Know: Definitions, Adoptions, Impact, Benefits, Maturity, Vendors. Dayboro: Emereo Pub, 2012. Internet resource.
Vest, Joshua R., and Larry D. Gamm. “Health information exchange: persistent challenges and new strategies.” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 17.3 (2010): 288-294.