Emerging Electronic Health Information Exchange Systems Don’t Meet Patient Needs

"Emerging Electronic Health Information Exchange Systems Don’t Meet Patient Needs." HealthNewsDigest.com, March 6, 2012.

From the press release: "Health care organizations need to do more to help patients realize the full benefits of electronic data from emerging health information exchange systems, according to a new study commissioned by Consumers Union that appears in the March 2012 Health Affairs. The study examines how well five major California health care organizations are meeting the needs of patients and communities in the use of their electronic data and offers important lessons for the rest of the country…. Overall, exchange of electronic data among a patient’s providers in different organizations was limited, which limited benefits to patients from the use of that data for their care….The study found that a lack of clear “rules of the road,” including behavioral norms for health information exchange participants, legal agreements, and technical standards, was preventing quicker implementation of health information exchange systems that could benefit providers and patients alike. Little progress has been made when it comes to using electronic health information to improve the health of the public and communities at large." Read more Overall, exchange of electronic data among a patient’s providers in different organizations was limited, which limited benefits to patients from the use of that data for their care….The study found that a lack of clear “rules of the road,” including behavioral norms for health information exchange participants, legal agreements, and technical standards, was preventing quicker implementation of health information exchange systems that could benefit providers and patients alike. Little progress has been made when it comes to using electronic health information to improve the health of the public and communities at large." Read more

See Also
Miller, Robert. "Satisfying Patient-Consumer Principles For Health Information Exchange: Evidence From California Case Studies." Health Affairs, March 2012 vol. 31 no. 3.