8 Sep - Dec, 2018 THREE US: THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGEBy Larry Garber, MD, Medical Director for Informatics, Reliant Medical GroupHealth information exchange (HIE), the electronic transfer of clinical patient information between healthcare organizations, has been a struggle ever since electronic health record (EHR) systems came into use decades ago. More and more instances of HIE are thriving, while others have had little utilization or have gone out of business. What differentiates a successful HIE implementation from one that failed?There have been several analyses trying to determine the key factors that determine successful HIE. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO-15-817) and the Office of the National Coordinator (Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap Version 1.0) postulated that there were several keys to success:1. Payment reform2. Lower cost of HIE3. Data/Transport standards4. Directories5. Patient matching rules6. Uniform privacy rules7. Policies to support interoperabilityWhile these are all important, they are not necessarily sufficient to ensure success. Having led $4 million in research studies on successful HIE over the past 15 years, I can safely say that there are three keys to success:1. Usefulness2. Usability3. "U" have to develop trustUsefulness: Every stakeholder needs to find value in HIE. The person who sends the information, the person who receives the information, the patient, the leaders who pay for the HIE. They all need to see that the benefits that they receive from HIE (e.g. better, safer, more efficient care) outweigh their level of effort (e.g. information gathering, looking up addresses) and cost.Usability: Every stakeholder needs to feel that the IN MY OPINION
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