Information services provider Thomson Reuters, US, has announced the release of a whitepaper titled ‘Statewide Health Information Exchange: Best Practice Insights from the Field’. The paper outlines 10 best practices for implementing statewide Health Information Exchanges (HIEs).
With $400 million in federal funding for local governments to develop statewide health information technology programmes, states in the US are rapidly developing HIEs to streamline information sharing and the continuity of patient care. It has been observed that despite widespread support for HIEs as a means of sharing electronic patient information across providers, few state governments agree on the best approach to implementing them. Thomson Reuters has created its whitepaper after examining current HIE proposals, historical precedents and case studies of successful prototype programmes.
Among the 10 best practices, Thomson Reuters recommends that states focus on tactics, not strategy – the real purpose of HIE planning should be to define a meaningful pilot that meets the needs of local stakeholders. The paper says it is more expedient to get a small programme up and running and learn from mistakes, rather than set goals that are too ambitious from the onset. Another recommendation is to involve physicians and clinicians at the outset to determine what will be most beneficial on the frontlines where patients are served.
The HIE needs to provide physicians with as many different types of information from as many different sources as possible, says the whitepaper. Also, it states, it is vital to protect patient privacy in the HIE. It is very easy to provide too much information in the data-rich HIE environment; the ideal programmes have embedded analytic capabilities that deliver information in a more careful manner.
The Thomson Reuters whitepaper can be downloaded at http://interest.healthcare.thomsonreuters.com/content/HIEWhitepaper, following registration.
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