Study: HIE use correlated with 30% drop in readmissions, cost savings

Health information exchange (HIE) usage directly correlated with significant cost savings and a 30 percent reduction in readmissions through the emergency department (ED), according to a study published in Applied Clinical Informatics.

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers identified 15,645 adults with an ED visit during a six-month period, all of whom consented to have their information accessible in the New York health information exchange and were continuously enrolled in two area health plans. The researchers examined claims information to determine whether the ED encounter resulted in an admission and they also used the HIE’s system log files to determine usage during the encounter.

The researchers found that the HIE system was accessed during 2.4 percent of encounters, with the odds of an admission 30 percent lower when the system was accessed after controlling for confounding. The annual savings in the sample was $357,000.

“These findings suggest that the use of an HIE system may reduce hospitalizations from the ED with resultant cost savings,” according to the authors. “This is an important outcome given the substantial financial investment in interventions designed to improve provider access to patient information in the U.S.”