HIE Access Saves Thousands Per Patient
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
Study finds financial savings, better quality of care when emergency department doctors have access to HIE records
A study presented at the American College of Emergency Physicians annual meeting revealed, “Having access to data from a health information exchange (HIE) improved the quality of emergency care and saved more than $1 million in patient charges.” The savings equated to nearly $2,000 per patient.
The study, conducted by the Medical University of South Carolina, took place over a one-year period and examined “325,740 patient encounters and 7,525 log-ons to the HIE by 231 eligible clinicians at 11 emergency departments in South Carolina.” The study also found within the sample of 532 patients “who had information available in the HIE and for whom the clinicians caring for the patients completed a survey” the following savings from avoiding the following types of services:
- Laboratory/microbiology: (187 patients) $2,073
- Radiology: (298 patients) $476,840
- Consultations: (61 patients) $6,461
- Hospital admissions: (56 patients) $551,282.”
In addition to saving dollars, "Nearly 90 percent of participants [89 percent] said that quality of patient care was improved, and 82 percent of participants said that valuable time was saved, reporting a mean time savings of 105 minutes per patient," according to study author Dr. Christine Carr of the Medical University of South Carolina.
"Our research suggests that a Health Information Exchange can improve quality and save money in an emergency care setting," said study author Dr. Steven Saef, also of the Medical University of South Carolina. "As emergency physicians, we are dedicated to improving care for our patients and also to reducing healthcare costs. This study shows we can do both. Furthermore, when one considers that we are only scratching the surface of what this new resource can do, the implications are staggering."