Health Information Exchange (HIE)
What is a health information exchange (HIE)?
Health information exchanges (HIEs) allow healthcare providers to securely access and share a patient’s medical information electronically.
The ability to review a patient’s medical history, allergies, and past procedures via health information technology (HIT) can help improve diagnoses and reduce medical errors.
Why are HIEs important in healthcare?
HIEs play a keep role in enabling interoperability within healthcare as the secure, electronic sharing of patient information enables a more comprehensive, up-to-date patient record that improves care quality and patient outcomes.
Regardless of where a patient is receiving care, their medical history can be pulled and referenced quickly so providers can deliver safe and effective treatment.
What are the different types of HIEs?
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) outlines three main types of HIEs:
- Consumer mediated exchanges: patients manage their health information between their doctors and providers.
- Directed exchanges: allow healthcare providers to electronically exchange orders, test results, discharge notes, and so on via secure messaging and/or interoperable electronic health record systems.
- Query-based exchanges: more frequently used in urgent and emergency care, query-based exchanges give providers the ability to request information about a patient from other providers directly.