New research shows health information exchanges (HIEs) cut down on redundant and unnecessary medical tests performed in office settings by giving physicians access to a patient’s current medical history. Eliminating that redundancy led to significant cost-savings.
The study evaluated data from HEALTHeLINK. The study identified 332 medical procedures that are performed at both HIE member and non-member locations. The results show that an HIE lowers the repetition of therapeutic procedures, those aimed at improving a patient’s condition, but HIE adoption did not affect diagnostic procedures that determine the extent of a patient’s illness.
Read the full paper “Do Health Information Exchanges Deter Repetition of Medical Services?” here.
(Source: Brookings)