Health information exchange: What matters at the organizational level?

Barriers to Health Information Exchange Among Ambulatory Physicians: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample

PURPOSE

Health information exchange (HIE) improves healthcare quality, but is underutilized by providers. This study used a nationally representative survey of ambulatory physicians to examine barriers to HIE, and identify which barriers have the greatest impact on providers' use of HIE.

METHODS

A pooled sample of 1,292 physicians from the 2018-2019 National Electronic Health Record Survey was used. Univariate statistics described rates and patterns of eight common barriers to HIE. Multivariate logistic regression examined the relationship between each barrier and the use of HIE.

RESULTS

Barriers to HIE were common and diverse. Negative attitudes toward HIE's ability to improve clinical quality significantly decreased HIE use (OR = .44, p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

To increase adoption of HIE, efforts should focus on addressing providers' negative attitudes toward HIE. These findings can guide targeted implementation strategies to improve HIE adoption.

Unfulfilled promises of health information exchange: What inhibits ambulatory clinics from electronically sharing health information?

PURPOSE

This study seeks to understand the key inhibitors for health information exchange (HIE) by ambulatory (outpatient) clinics. We examine the key technological, organizational and environmental factors that inhibit an ambulatory clinic from electronically exchanging health information with external clinics and hospitals.

METHODS

We utilize survey data from 1285 ambulatory clinics in the US state of Minnesota. Using logistic regressions, we assess if the ambulatory clinic's HIE with external clinics and external hospitals are associated with fourteen inhibitors from technological, organizational and environmental contexts in which ambulatory clinics operate.

RESULTS

Among the technological inhibitors, we find lack of adequate technological infrastructure, difficulties in integrating external data with electronic medical record systems, and security concerns to inhibit ambulatory clinics' HIE with both clinics and hospitals. Inadequate technical support was a barrier for HIE with hospitals, whereas inadequate training of staff was an inhibitor for clinic-to-clinic HIE. Of the environmental variables, legal concerns and complexity in framing HIE agreements with partners were found to inhibit ambulatory clinics' HIE with both external clinics and hospitals. Lack of partner readiness and ability was an inhibiting factor for clinic-to-hospital HIE whereas issues in patient consent, and problems in choosing the right vendor with a good fit were inhibiting ambulatory clinics' HIE with other clinics. Among the organizational variables, lack of adequate senior leadership support and complexity of workflow changes inhibited clinic-to-clinic health data sharing, whereas unclear return on investment (ROI) for HIE was a deterrent for ambulatory clinics' HIE with hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

This study throws light on electronic HIE practices and its key inhibitors in ambulatory clinics, an understudied area in digital health. This paper provides unique insights into specific inhibitors that deter clinic-to-clinic health information sharing versus those that affect and clinic-to-hospital health information exchange.

Inter-organizational information sharing and bundled payment reimbursement: Do hospitals in the US use health information exchange to collaborate?

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the greater need for information generated by bundled payment reimbursement and the use of Health Information Exchange (HIE).

METHODS

The study is based on a secondary data analysis using theAmerican Hospital Association (AHA) Healthcare IT Database and the AHA Annual Survey. A logistic regression was used to test the likelihood of hospitals participating in HIE if they were involved in bundled payment reimbursement. Negative binomial, ordered logistic and Poisson regression models were used to determine the associations between bundled payment reimbursement and health information sharing in terms of breadth, volume, and diversity, respectively.

RESULTS

Hospitals in bundled payment programs were more likely to send and receive information through HIE and tosend information to different types of health providers but not to receive. They were also more likely to exchange different types of health information and to use HIE more often.

CONCLUSIONS

The greater need for collaboration of hospitals participating in bundled payment programs was associated with greater information sharing among organizations through HIE, but different providers involved in the episode of care play different roles in HIE.