Health information exchanges shown to cut readmission rates
Ambulatory providers accessing community-based HIE systems reduce hospital readmissions of discharged inpatients, sparing patients needless hospitalization and saving hospitals money.
That’s the key conclusion of a new study looking at readmission rates over a six-month period among patients whose medical records were stored in the Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health Information Organization, a nonprofit, community-run HIE launched in 2009. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Led by Joshua Vest, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, the authors analyzed claims data from two health plans covering more than 60 percent of the local population. They found that accessing patient information in the HIE system in the 30 days after discharge correlated with a 57 percent lower chance of readmission.
The authors estimated this resulted in around $605,000 in annualized savings, thanks to averted readmissions.
To be included in the analyzed dataset, patients needed to have had at least one encounter with a participating provider in the six months after giving their consent to be included in the HIE system. Each patient appeared in the dataset only once, and each discharge could be followed for at least 30 days.
“This study took place in a typical community-based setting with private practices, not-for-profit hospitals, multiple payers and fee-for-service reimbursement,” wrote Vest and colleagues, noting the HIE involved some 11 counties, 38 healthcare organizations, more than 1,300 HIE users and more than 800,000 patients. “This electronic network took years to build, both technically and in terms of winning buy-in from historical competitors. Moreover, this HIE required long-standing commitment from community leaders and a community-based organization whose primary mission was the advancement of this kind of technology.”
They concluded that their findings illustrate “the type of integration that American healthcare has not seen outside integrated delivery systems until very recently. Our study showed that the success of the HIE in reducing readmissions was possible in this [community-based] context.”
The study is posted online in its entirety.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.