Governance framework released for HIE

Health information exchanges (HIEs) are expanding in new areas and to new providers while, on a federal level, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) released a governance framework to aid in establishing trust among exchange partners.

A $1 million rural HIE incentive program aims to help California healthcare providers implement technologies that enable the secure and reliable exchange of health information to improve quality of care, lower costs and achieve Meaningful Use criteria.

The California Health eQuality (CHeQ) program, managed by the University of California-Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement (IPHI), has launched the initiative. The new Rural HIE Incentive Program aims to address the many challenges that rural healthcare providers face when trying to establish HIE systems, such as the scarcity of providers, particularly specialists. The need to travel for care reduces the chances that providers have access to all of a patient’s health information. As a result, patients may undergo duplicative laboratory tests or imaging studies, receive prescriptions for incompatible medications and experience other problems resulting from such fragmented care.

Meanwhile, Michigan Health Connect has linked its HIE with emergency medical services (EMS) and the local fire department. The state's largest provider of HIE is using ESO Solutions to create an integrated digital hub, which helps EMS and fire agencies respond quickly, efficiently and thoroughly, regardless of the electronic record system an organization uses.

The ONC released its Governance Framework for Trusted Electronic Health Information Exchange, which discusses four key categories of principles: trust, business, technical and organizational. The framework was created in response to comments that ONC needs to establish a policy framework for private actors to align with, ONC chief Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, wrote in a post on the HealthITBuzz blog. "The Governance Framework reflects what matters most to ONC when it comes to national health information exchange governance and the principles in which ONC believes. We’ve published this framework to provide a common foundation for all types of governance models. Entities that set health information exchange policy should look to the Governance Framework’s principles as a way to align their work with national priorities. It is critical that we are all working from a similar understanding of the expectations for nationwide electronic health information exchange. This framework is an important step to set that direction."

How do you think this framework will impact the success of HIE around the country? Please share your thoughts.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor