NEHC: HIE stakeholders welcome care coordination, but cost is challenging

Seventy-three percent of respondents to National eHealth Collaborative’s (NeHC) 2012 Stakeholder Survey stated that better care coordination is one of the most important benefits of health information exchange (HIE).

Conducted from February 13-17, a questionnaire was distributed to more than 7,000 stakeholders with a response rate of 3 percent. Regarding the question “What are the most important benefits of HIE?”, respondents could select three responses. Sixty-five percent stated providers and patients have the right information available when needed, 39 percent cited improved efficiency and 37 percent noted improved quality.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, the results provide insights into perceptions of stakeholders related to barriers to HIE and the importance of consumer engagement to transforming healthcare.

“Stakeholders believe that consumer engagement will be very important or important (95 percent) to transforming healthcare and achieving better outcomes,” the report noted.

Funding and sustainability was noted as the biggest challenge to achieving widespread HIE adoption, according to 61 percent of respondents. Fifty-three percent cited interoperability standards as a challenge and 46 percent stated provider adoption was a challenge. Additionally, 46 percent stated disparate EMR systems was a challenge to widespread HIE adoption.

NeHC intends to use survey results and additional stakeholder feedback to inform its continued work with HIEs across the U.S. and with planning future NeHC education programs.