Summary
Objective: Assess the interest in and preferences of ambulatory practitioners in HIE.
Background: Health information exchange (HIE) may improve the quality and efficiency
of care. Identifying the value proposition for smaller ambulatory practices may help
those practices engage in HIE.
Methods: Survey of primary care and specialist practitioners in the State of Colorado.
Results: Clinical data were commonly (always [2%], often [29%] or sometimes [49%])
missing during clinic visits. Of 12 data types proposed as available through HIE,
ten were considered “extremely useful” by most practitioners. “Clinical notes/consultation
reports,” “diagnosis or problem lists,” and “hospital discharge summaries” were considered
the three most useful data types. Interest in EKG reports, diagnosis/problem lists,
childhood immunizations, and discharge summaries differed among ambulatory practitioner
groups (primary care, obstetrics-gynecology, and internal medicine subspecialties).
Conclusion: Practitioners express strong interest in most of the data types, but opinions
differed by specialties on what types were most important. All providers felt that
a system that provided all data types would be useful. These results support the potential
benefit of HIE in ambulatory practices.
Keywords
Ambulatory care information systems - communication - questionnaires
