HIE: Consumer engagement, state exchanges grow services
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| Beth Walsh, Editor, CMIO |
Consumer engagement is a top priority for U.S. HIEs with more than half (53 percent) of respondents ranking it as high or very high in their organization’s priorities, according to results of a survey of members of the National eHealth Collaborative's (NeHC) HIE Learning Network.
One-third of respondents said their strategies for consumer engagement with health IT are not clearly defined at all and 59 percent say their strategies for consumer engagement are beginning to evolve toward clarity. Eight percent consider their strategies to be very clearly defined.
Respondents named improve health outcomes, deliver information to patients and reduce healthcare costs among others as primary goals for consumer engagement with health IT.
The top ways that respondents to the survey are working toward patient engagement are delivering information electronically to patients, offering a patient portal and providing marketing or educational materials electronically.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts is the first state to receive approval for statewide HIE development through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). With $16.9 million in approved CMS funding, the state will complete the first phase of three, which involves organizing a project management team, developing a governance structure and selecting operations staff members.
And in Ohio, two primary care practices have successfully begun sharing immunization data with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) through HIE. HealthBridge, a Cincinnati-based HIE that serves as a statewide health data hub, worked with the ODH Immunization Department on a pilot to electronically connect providers with the state immunization registry.
How are your HIE efforts coming along? Is interorperability starting to indicate some improvements in patient care? Please share your experience.
Beth Walsh
Editor, CMIO
bwalsh@trimedmedia.com
Beth Walsh,
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.