The most important benefit of health information exchange is its capacity to improve care coordination, according to a new survey by the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC).

The survey, conducted February 13-17 via questionnaire to more than 210 stakeholders, showed that 73 percent of respondents thought improved care coordination was the most important benefit of HIEs when respondents were asked to select three benefits.

[See also: NeHC aims to engage consumer with health IT.]

Other results showed respondents putting most important HIE benefits in this order:

• 65 percent said providers and patients have the right information available when needed;

• 39 said improved efficiency was most important; and

• 37 percent said improved quality was the most important benefit.

Coming on the heels of the release of the proposed rule for meaningful use Stage 2, NeHC officials said the organization’s annual survey results provide insights into stakeholder perceptions related to barriers to health information exchange (HIE) and the importance of consumer engagement to transforming healthcare.

[See also: Stage 2 MU released at last.]

“It is both interesting and enlightening to understand what stakeholders are thinking related to core strategic priorities for NeHC including education, HIE, and consumer engagement,” said NeHC CEO Kate Berry. “This type of information can help inform our programs to ensure we emphasize the areas of greatest need to encourage progress toward widespread deployment of HIT and HIE to improve patient care.”

Other questions and responses from the survey were:

“What are the most important benefits of health information exchange?” (Respondents were asked to select three)

• 73 percent - Better care coordination

• 65 percent - Providers and patients have the right information available when needed

• 39 percent - Improved efficiency

• 37 percent - Improved quality

“What are the biggest challenges to achieving widespread health information exchange?” (Respondents were asked to select three)

• 61 percent - Funding and sustainability

• 53 percent - Interoperability standards

• 46 percent - Provider adoption

• 46 percent - Disparate electronic medical record systems

• 34 percent - Privacy and security

   

"How important is patient/consumer engagement to transforming healthcare?”

• 95 percent - Very important or Important

• 5 percent - Somewhat important

“What Health IT topics are of greatest interest to you?”? (Respondents were asked to select all that apply)

• 60 percent - Interoperability standards

• 57 percent - Meaningful use

• 51 percent - Examples of HIE

• 49 percent - Health IT policy updates

• 49 percent - Healthcare reform

• 44 percent - Privacy and security

Find the full reporting of the top survey results here: 

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