Health Information Exchange

Health information exchange is one of the latest steps the health care industry is taking to harness the power of new technologies. As electronic health records continue to replace their paper counterparts, there’s an increasing need for infrastructure that can help medical providers share the information quickly and efficiently.

Many large health care organizations—hospital chains, for instance—already have their own HIE systems in place for sending information between branches.¹ However, many of them have systems that only work within their own organization, meaning they can hit snags when trying to communicate with other health care institutions.²

This is why, with the help of government funding, states are beginning to create statewide HIE systems that will eventually streamline the way health records are exchanged between institutions. As the most populous state in the Union, California will need a comprehensive HIE system that’s capable of handling health records for 40 million people. To this end, California has received the largest share of federal funding with almost $39 million.³

HIE in California

Once California’s state HIE is up and running...

By Lucas Beckwith

Lucas is a freelance writer and consultant who has covered a variety of health topics for online and print publications. He studied health communiction and journalism at the Ohio State University.