Health Information Exchange - Essay Example

Health Information Exchange Submitted Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................................3 2. Defining Health Information Exchange.........................................................................4 3. History of Health Information Exchange.......................................................................5 4. Problems with Health Information Exchange................................................................6 5. Addressing the Challenges.............................................................................................7 6. Conclusion......................................................................................................................8 7. Works Cited....................................................................................................................9 1. Introduction Health Information Exchange is a process whereby medical information is transmitted between medical institutions, government agencies and related bodies in a safe and effective way via electronic methods. Modern technological innovations have made the transmission of information a more viable, faster and cost effective process. Though some communities and states within the US have already implemented such a scheme, it is still yet to be implemented on a national level. The importance of implementing HIE lies in the fact that it may benefit the medical area in several ways including but not limited to improved quality of patient care, reduced costs and faster communication between patients and medical professionals. Though many professional bodies and individuals support the installation of a HIE scheme, there exists several challenges to this which are still being addressed. Of these issues, privacy, confidentiality, possible unauthorized access and misuse of medical records are of primary concern. This essay will examine HIE in relation to defining it as a process and what it aims to achieve in the medical community. It will then look at its development within recent years as technical advancements have made it a possible method of faster information transmission. Challenges that remain within the area of HIE will then be briefly examined with a view to summarizing them to their main areas of concern. Potential solutions to these problems will then be described and a final concluding discussion will then follow. 2. Defining Health Information Exchange Health Information Exchange (HIE), is a term used to describe the process of information sharing in relation to the health of individuals, among Health Information Organizations (HIOs) across the world. The sharing of this information is aimed at maintaining individual confidentiality, privacy and security, while providing a faster and more effective way of sharing health-related information for the benefit of both patients and HIOs (AHIMA). HIE is a fundamental part of the health information technology (HIT) network which is currently being reviewed in the United States and the National Health Information Network (Health Information Exchange). It is still not fully developed but is expected to be implemented at some stage in the near future. It is the responsibility of Health Information Organizations to ensure the successful operation of HIE. In order for this to function, they must “create a standardized interoperable model that is patient centric, trusted, longitudinal, scalable, sustainable, and reliable” (AHIMA). Therefore in defining HIE, it must be included that not only is it a process of health-related information sharing between health institutions, HIOs and government agencies, but it is a standardized, electronic and safety-monitored system which aims to enhance patient care and be more time and cost effective for healthcare professionals. Successful operability for HIE also means that the technology involved in the process must be completely reliable, secure and must operate within a set of standardized guidelines and rules. 3. History of Health Information Exchange The idea of a Health Information Exchange has been around for several years. The usual process of accessing health –related information is a timely one which is also costly. It has been an issue for healthcare institutions for decades (AHIMA). However, with modern innovations in technology, information sharing of any kind has come to be a much easier, cheaper and faster process. With this in mind, medical bodies and medical professionals, as well as individual consumers, have questioned why it is that modern technology cannot offer a solution to the problems typically associated with traditional methods of medical information sharing. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) outlined the details surrounding the history of HIE in 2006. They stated that the number of community and regional initiatives calling for HIE has been increasing over the last decade at an extremely fast pace. The authors list the reasons for this increase as being mainly due to increased medical costs, insufficient medical care and federal support of interoperable health information technology (HIT) and HIE itself. According to Rhonda Meadows, the “National Business Group on Health/Mercer Study on Health and Human Services Transparency Initiative shows that healthcare spending could be cut by as much as 30 percent if the industry used interoperable HIT to enable real-time sharing of patient data and had access to standardized information on provider quality and cost efficiency”. With federal support already in existence, state support has begun to increase for HIE in recent years. Local healthcare communities have also begun to push for HIE and HIT as the benefits of the process are substantial (AHRQ). 4. Problems with Health Information Exchange Problems with Health Information Exchange do however exist. These problems are diverse but mainly centre of issues of reliability, ensuring confidentiality and privacy and controlling who accesses medical information. Wilcox et al (814) describe the fact that many issues with HIE are based on the actual implementation of it, as many smaller institutions state that they are not capable of implementing such as system as they do not have the resources necessary. Herrick et al also support this claim in their report on the benefits and problems of health information technology. They reiterate that smaller institutions such as doctor’s offices would have problems installing the necessary software and implementation activities required to successfully engage in HIE. Herrick et al also describe the issues of security threats to the system of HIE. Identity theft, unauthorized access, incorrect record alteration and similar safety issues are just some of the concerns the authors convey. They also question the assumed benefit of HIE in the area of improving the quality of patient care, via quicker accessing of information regarding the best treatment for certain patients and/or conditions. They authors state that installing HIT does not necessarily equate with improved patient care in this way. They believe that this is only achieved with re-training and re-design processes in conjunction with HIT and HIE technology. Other areas which are a concern with the establishment of HIE are related to patient attitudes about HIE. In a qualitative research study, Simon et al (30) researched the main concerns that patients have about the prospect of HIE and found that the primary area of concern surrounded privacy and consent issues, and the possibility of altering personal information. 5. Addressing the Challenges The challenges faced by the implementation of HIE and HIT are in abundance. However, many of these issues can be met in different ways. AHRQ addresses the technical issues of implementing HIE. They describe the importance of ‘Technological Interoperability’ in overcoming this issue. Based upon the evaluation of some community and state HIE schemes which have already successfully used HIT, the authors describe a shared goal as a vital instrument in the success of these case studies, ‘a shared mechanism by which any community supports communication across varied technologies is necessary for success. It is worth noting that some of the challenges of identifying and implementing the right infrastructure and design are linked to privacy and security issues (e.g., whether or not to involve consumers and; whether to use a centralized or decentralized architecture)’. There is no doubt that issues of security and confidentiality can only be addressed and resolved by both the nature of the technology used and by informing and educating patients on these issues so that they can feel more confident to participate in it. Invasion of privacy and potential hackers or misuse of information relies on a foolproof technological system for HIE. Similarly, the establishment and adherence to common guidelines and goals within HIE must be created and maintained by all medical bodies and individual professionals, so that operating procedures and ethical issues are set forth and understood and agreed to by all. This may also necessitate further training for medical professionals both in the technology used and in the operation and handling of medical records. 6. Conclusion The idea of HIE has grown substantially in recent years. As traditional methods of transmitting medical information remain costly, slow and relatively ineffective, advancements in technology have made it possible to create a more effective method of information exchange. While some communities have successfully implemented such a scheme, it is yet to be implemented on a regional or national level due to areas of concern which have yet to be fully resolved. It is only via technological enhancements, the establishment of standardized guidelines, procedures and ethics and the further training of medical professionals, that these challenges may be met. In doing so, both medical bodies and individual patients can yield several benefits such as improved quality of care, reduced costs and faster communication between all relevant parties. 7. Works Cited “Health Information Exchange” AHIMA. n. d. Web. 7 April 2012. “Health Information Technology” AHRQ. n. d. Web. 7 April 2012. Herrick, D. et al. Health Information Technology: Benefits and Problems. Web. 7 April 2012. Meadows, R. Health Information Exchange: Revolutionizing the Healthcare System. Web. 7 April 2012. Simon, S. et al. “Patients’ Attitudes Toward Electronic Health Information Exchange: Qualitative Study” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 11.3 (2006): 30. Web. 7 April 2012. Wilcox, A. et al. “Architectural Strategies and Issues with Health Information Exchange.” AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings Archive, (2006): 814-818. Web. 7 April 2012. Read More