Running head: Health Information Exchange 1
Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Angel Green
DeVry University
HIT141
, Health Information Exchange 2
Introduction: What is HIE?
Health information exchange (HIE) is the way in which patient health records and
information are accessed and shared electronically between doctors, nurses, pharmacists or other
healthcare providers. HIE enables access to community-wide patient data. For example, if
someone were to go to the emergency room, the doctors there would be able to access the
patient’s health record if he or she received healthcare at another facility. Another aspect of HIE
is that a patient’s healthcare data can be transferred from one electronic health record (EHR) to
another. For example, if a patient needs to transfer their care to a different physician (Kuperman
& McGowan, 2013).
The History of HIE
The past several years there has shown a surge of EHR systems implementation in
healthcare facilities. However, healthcare is delivered to multiple locations via multiple
providers who may or may not share the same EHR systems. This makes it difficult for the
health records to be shared amongst different providers as they become fragmented due to non-
interoperable and non-integrated systems. In search of a solution to this problem, health
information exchanges (HIEs) have been explored a way to facilitate timely sharing of electronic
health-related information (Bhansali & Gupta, 2014). HIEs have been slowly developing over
the years. The concept has recently become more defined and accepted by the healthcare
community, likely due to meaningful use and its incentive to implement electronic health
records. The technology of EHRs cannot reach its full potential until healthcare systems can
Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Angel Green
DeVry University
HIT141
, Health Information Exchange 2
Introduction: What is HIE?
Health information exchange (HIE) is the way in which patient health records and
information are accessed and shared electronically between doctors, nurses, pharmacists or other
healthcare providers. HIE enables access to community-wide patient data. For example, if
someone were to go to the emergency room, the doctors there would be able to access the
patient’s health record if he or she received healthcare at another facility. Another aspect of HIE
is that a patient’s healthcare data can be transferred from one electronic health record (EHR) to
another. For example, if a patient needs to transfer their care to a different physician (Kuperman
& McGowan, 2013).
The History of HIE
The past several years there has shown a surge of EHR systems implementation in
healthcare facilities. However, healthcare is delivered to multiple locations via multiple
providers who may or may not share the same EHR systems. This makes it difficult for the
health records to be shared amongst different providers as they become fragmented due to non-
interoperable and non-integrated systems. In search of a solution to this problem, health
information exchanges (HIEs) have been explored a way to facilitate timely sharing of electronic
health-related information (Bhansali & Gupta, 2014). HIEs have been slowly developing over
the years. The concept has recently become more defined and accepted by the healthcare
community, likely due to meaningful use and its incentive to implement electronic health
records. The technology of EHRs cannot reach its full potential until healthcare systems can
