HIMemo

Commission to launch health information exchange certification

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology on Oct. 1 will launch a certification program for health information exchanges.

“With health information exchange still being in an early developmental stage, we are offering a modular approach to certification that will accommodate the wide variety of organizations involved,” said CCHIT Chair Mark Leavitt, M.D. “First, all organizations will be required to satisfy uniform security criteria. Then, in the months to come, we will be rolling out inspections for various interoperability transactions, allowing HIEs to select which ones they choose to be certified for.”

More on the certification program and criteria will be posted Sept. 29 at the CCHIT Web site. Eight new members will join the commission’s 21-member board in October, including one from the hospital field: Jennifer Laughlin, vice president and chief information officer for UW Health Partners-Watertown Regional Medical Center in Watertown, WI.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Study examines barriers to health information exchange

Local health information exchanges continue to face barriers to community-wide clinical data exchange, according to a new study of four HIEs by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The study found provider organizations still face substantial disincentives to share data with unaffiliated organizations, according to AHA News Now. In addition, neither health plans nor employers were willing to fund core clinical data exchange as a benefit for patients.

The two more mature exchanges, based in Cincinnati and Indianapolis, have achieved some viability by meeting a specific need for more efficient delivery of hospital test results to physicians, the authors said. However, the newer exchanges, serving portions of Tennessee, Virginia and Florida, have struggled to identify and finance initial services.

“Stakeholder concerns about loss of competitive advantage and data misuse are compounded by a lack of consensus on how to finance health information exchange,” said study co-author Joy Grossman.

Health information exchange efforts continue to mature, survey finds

Twenty-four U.S states passed bills this year or last that called for using health information technology to improve health and health care, while 10 governors passed similar executive orders, according to the latest annual survey of state, regional and local health information exchange initiatives by the eHealth Initiative. Among 165 HIE initiatives identified by the 2006 survey, 45 were in the implementation stage while 26 were fully operational.

Factors driving their efforts included “improving quality” (92%), “improving safety” (82%), “inefficiencies experienced by providers who need information to support patient care” (70%) and “rising health care costs” (56%). More than eight in 10 initiatives enabled access to data by physician practices. While the primary source of funding for HIE continues to be the federal government, a growing number of initiatives are deriving funds for ongoing operations from users of their services, including hospitals (24%), payers (21%), physician practices (16%) and laboratories (13%).

[ via AHA News Now ]

AHIMA issues report, workbook to guide state HIE initiatives

Most state-level health information exchange initiatives remain in an early stage of development and those that are more mature are challenged to expand their services in a financially sustainable way, according to a report released Sept. 12 by the American Health Information Management Association.

The study, conducted under contract to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, found state-level initiatives differ significantly in their approach and drivers of action. Rather than recommend specific practices, the project team released a set of principles, checklists and worksheets to guide the development of a state-level HIE initiative to allow it to take advantage of the particular opportunities and environment of its state.

[ via AHA News Now ]