The Challenge of Data Exchange

Health-information exchanges could help medical providers to collaborate better and improve patient care, yet they are threatened by challenges, among them funding and sustainability, interoperability and acceptance by doctors, a survey suggests.

The findings come from a mid-February online survey of stakeholders with the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC), a public-private partnership that is trying to ease the way for interoperable health-information exchanges.

The survey garnered 185 responses. Among the highlights:

• 73 percent cited better care coordination as one of the top three benefits of health-information exchanges (HIEs). Ready availability of information was cited by 65 percent of respondents. Only 39 percent cited improved efficiency as a top benefit, followed by improved quality of care, listed by 37 percent of respondents.
• Funding and sustainability were the most frequently cited top challenges to achieving widespread HIE adoption, listed by 61 percent of respondents. Interoperability standards were listed as a top challenge by 53 percent, followed by provider adoption and disparate electronic medical records systems, both at 46 percent.
• More than three-quarters of respondents, or 77 percent, said patient engagement is "very important" to transforming health care.
• Interoperability standards and meaningful use topped a list of health IT topics of importance to respondents.

"This type of information can help inform our programs to ensure we emphasize the areas of greatest need to encourage progress toward widespread deployment of [health IT] and HIE to improve patient care," Berry said.