Another Lens in Creating Value: Reflections of the 2019 Survey on HIE Technology Priorities
Health information exchange (HIE) organizations are one of the emerging solutions to improve quality and safety in our healthcare system. In this rapidly evolving industry, keeping a pulse on the current state of our nation’s HIEs and their strategic priorities is valuable. Fifty-three HIEs completed a twenty-question survey published by the eHealth Initiative (eHI) to characterize the industry’s technology challenges and priorities. Results indicate that with business sustainability being less of an issue, HIEs are focused on modernizing their value propositions. With healthcare payments tied to value-based programs at an all-time high at 34%, it is not surprising we see the cascading effect on HIE stakeholders’ data demands. Accordingly, HIEs report using claims and clinical data to support these programs (43%) and enhancing interoperability (47%) as the top two strategic priorities.
Leveraging Quality Data. Those closest to the patient need the right information to guide clinical decision-making. In the past HIEs were known as the storage location of the longitudinal patient record. This survey reveals that HIEs are now looking to function as a population health and care management resource to guide clinical work more meaningfully. Just as caregivers are demanding more clinical data to drive outcomes, so too are the payers, but for a slightly different reason. Payer-specific use cases desire more complete and accurate data to offset the high administrative costs associated with quality reporting requirements.
Lacking Data Standards. Whereas the past was focused on the mechanics of information exchange (ingestion, de-duplication, user access), the survey indicates HIEs are now exploring data quality with looking at data types, standardization and enhancement mechanisms. The anticipated publication of Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) is on the eyes of HIEs. This inherent progress with interoperability, complemented with research revealing that 70% of health outcomes can be attributed to social determinants, HIEs are feeling impact of the healthcare system’s lack of data standards. Bringing a single data source into a HIE without agreement on type and format could be troublesome. Bringing data from multiple sources, some of which have only had limited interdependency in the past, into one standard, and developing insights is the current obstacle facing HIEs.
It is exciting to witness the evolution of a fragmented healthcare system coming together in a real and tangible way through HIEs. The insights gleaned from this survey is used within our internal voice of the customer system to help HIEs be a part of our nation’s healthcare redesign. While it is only one data point, it is another data point that is used to create a comprehensive picture of the current obstacles experienced by our customers. Thank you to eHI and the HIEs who participated in this survey to help guide our work down the direction that is needed.
About KPI Ninja
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