Key Characteristics of health information exchange: a scoping review
Date
2012-07-12
Authors
Ng, Yvonne
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Abstract
Objective: To determine the size and nature of the evidence base for Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) in the United States. Identify the key characteristics of successful RHIOs, barriers to HIE, and provide recommendations.
Methods: A scoping review of literature was conducted on HIE in the United States from 2006 through 2011. The reviewer abstracted HIE characteristics and organized findings into one of the five dimensions (Implementation, Technology, Policy, Data, and Value) of the Dixon framework.
Results: One hundred and sixteen peer-reviewed, non-peer-reviewed, and web publications were retrieved, and 11 met the inclusion criteria. Key characteristics of successful RHIOs include hybrid federated architecture, financial viability through recurring fees collected from participants, narrow exchange of test results, broad range of stakeholder types, and formal governance.
Conclusion: HIE progress has been slow in the last five years. Technical guidelines including architecture, data and messaging standards, as well as policy changes may improve RHIO progress. However, further evaluation of these changes is required to determine whether proposed guidelines are effective.
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Keywords
Health Information Exchange, Regional Health Information Organization, RHIO, HIE