Health Information Exchange (HIE)

Hospitals are having a hard time reporting data to public health agencies, according to a new JAMIA study, which finds patchwork data sharing, "often occurring via fax or phone."

In addition, broader embrace of APIs and more concerted strategy for patient matching could help public health agencies combat the pandemic and boost pop health.

Let’s invest in an interoperable health data system that connects all providers, hospitals, nursing homes, insurance companies, state and local governments, public health and patients who need access to medical records.

Chinatown Service Center of Los Angeles converted 80% of acute in-person visits to telehealth in just weeks – and improved timely access to hospital records in the county by 75%.

“One of the most apparent shifts we’ve seen is how COVID-19 is spurring the move to virtual care,” said Caroline Clarke, Executive Vice President and Market Leader, Philips ASEAN Pacific.

The state’s many health systems put competitive concerns aside for the greater good during a pandemic, using IT to send patients to locations that could best serve them.

The Regenstrief Institute, the Indiana Network for Patient Care and the Indiana Health Information Exchange provide access to the nation’s largest inter-organizational clinical data repository.

A new report, co-authored by former National Coordinator Farzard Mostashari, offers a roadmap toward the data exchange infrastructure needed to help contain the coronavirus pandemic.

"This pandemic really points out the need to have interoperability," said the National Coordinator for Health IT in a HIMSS20 Digital session on Thursday. "If we'd had this rule a few years ago, we'd be in a far better spot."

The interoperability final rules that will be added to the Federal Register this week mention two implementation guides from the Da Vinci Project to help payers exchange data.