6 Of 10 Hospitals Exchanged Information in 2013
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
The ONC has released a data brief which reveals hospitals are making headway in the area of HIE - 62 percent reported exchanging data with providers outside their system in 2013.
A data brief released from the ONC indicates hospitals are making progress on HIE development and use. In 2013, more than six in ten hospitals (62 percent) electronically exchanged health information with providers outside of their system.
The ONC further found electronic health information exchange among hospitals and outside providers increased 51 percent from 2008 to 2013. The majority of hospitals (57 percent) electronically exchanged health information with ambulatory providers outside of their system - a 58 percent increase since 2008.
“Our previous analysis of AHA survey data found that EHR adoption, in combination with participation in a regional health information organization was associated with the highest rates of exchange of different types of health information across organizations,” wrote Matthew Swain, program analyst with the Office of Economic Analysis, Evaluation, and Modeling at ONC and co-author of the brief in a Health IT Buzz blog. “We anticipate that the exchange of care summaries among hospitals will increase as hospitals implement EHRs certified to meet ONC’s 2014 health IT certification regulation, which require secure messaging functionality and standardized clinical care summary structure and content.”
Government Health IT reports these hospitals exchanged various types of health information, writing, “More than half of hospitals exchanged laboratory results (57 percent) and radiology reports (55 percent) with outside providers, fewer exchanged clinical care summaries (42 percent) and medication history (37 percent).”
The data brief concluded, “Hospital adoption of EHR systems has significantly increased since the enactment of the Health Information Technology for Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 (4). During that same period, hospital’s electronic health information exchange with both outside ambulatory providers and other hospitals significantly increased. In 2013, more than six in ten (62 percent) non-federal acute care hospitals electronically exchanged laboratory results, radiology reports, clinical care summaries, and/or medication lists with any outside providers. This represents a 51 percent increase since 2008.”