CHIME, eHI release HIE guide for CIOs

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the eHealth Initiative (eHI) have joined forces to help healthcare CIOs make sound decisions as they move toward achieving health information exchange (HIE).

Released as a web-based guide, “The HIE Guide for CIOs” offers practical assistance for IT executives pertaining to HIE. It includes chapters on:

• Assessing the local landscape for HIE;

• Considerations in forming an enterprise health information organization;
• Selecting an external health information organization;
• Technical requirements for HIE;
• Assessing service offerings;
• Ensuring privacy and confidentiality; and
• National HIE initiatives.

“As we have tracked HIE initiatives over the past several years, we have learned that data exchange involves a lot of moving pieces,” said Jennifer Covich, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based eHI. “Healthcare IT executives can use the guide to help think through the process of getting involved in HIE.”

Content for the HIE Guide was developed by conducting research with CHIME’s CIO members who have had practical experience with HIE, as well as drawing upon the resources of eHI, particularly its HIE Toolkit, which provides information related to the development of health information organizations.

“The HIE Guide for CIOs” is available for free here.