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There is a business case to be made for spending money on a fully standardized nationwide system.
ABSTRACT: In this paper we assess the value of electronic health care information exchange and interoperability (HIEI) between providers (hospitals and medical group practices) and independent laboratories, radiology centers, pharmacies, payers, public health departments, and other providers. We have created an HIEI taxonomy and combined published evidence with expert opinion in a cost-benefit model. Fully standardized HIEI could yield a net value of $77.8 billion per year once fully implemented. Nonstandardized HIEI offers smaller positive financial returns. The clinical impact of HIEI for which quantitative estimates cannot yet be made would likely add further value. A compelling business case exists for national implementation of fully standardized HIEI.
Attention to the use of information technology (IT) in health care is intensifying rapidly, with President GeorgeW. Bush calling for widespread adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) within the next ten years.1 In addition to digitizing the information that providers use to care for their patients within organizations, clinicians, patients, and policymakers are looking ahead to sharing appropriate information electronically among organizations. David Brailer, newly appointed national health information technology coordinator, recently called for expansion of such interoperability to the flow of clinical and other administrative data, citing its importance for encouraging health care IT investment and facilitating health care reform.2
To explore the qualitative and economic implications of health care information exchange and interoperability (HIEI), we studied the value of electronic data flow between providers (hospitals and medical group practices) and other providers, and between providers and five stakeholders with which they exchange information most commonly: independent laboratories, radiology centers, pharmacies, payers, and public health departments. We hypothesized that the clinical benefits of electronic data exchangewould be substantial and that financial benefits would outweigh costs. In this paper we report on the results of our analysis.
Study Data And Methods
We used a range of methods to gather evidence, including literature reviews, expert interviews, and estimates by an expert panel. We focused our efforts on analyzing published sources for data but,where thesewere lacking, turned to experts to fill critical gaps.We then created a cost-benefit model to project value to organizations and to the country. A full project report that...