Type of benefit | Example quote from practice/clinic |
---|---|
Improved productivity at initial visit | “When I get the information from the hospital or other providers, there is more value for the patient. I can know more even for the first visit. And usually can get more accomplished during that first visit than if I have to repeat all of the info that’s already in the system from somewhere else”. |
Improved completeness of patient records | “I guess has a patient who was to the emergency room 84 times in a year. Eighty-four times in a year. I think [we] knew about five of them or something like that… For the first time our providers are seeing a chunk of clinical information about their patients that they’ve never had access to and that’s been a pretty revolutionary impact for them”. |
Avoidance of duplicative services/patient financial risk | “During the initial visit, you can see if they had the labs done. You won’t duplicate any labs that were recently done and the patient wouldn’t have to pay out-of-pocket if you repeated those tests or x-rays. Also, it’s just better care. Let’s say you had a condition where you really needed to get that lab, I just think it’s better care”. |
Improved non-visit consults | “I had a patient with lung cancer who called me at two in the morning because he was anxious. He was having shortness of breath. He couldn’t breathe correctly. I was able to actually use [HIE] data from his previous encounters in the hospital and his other providers. I saw what his actual oxygen saturation was, so I just told them maybe you better just go ahead and call 911. He actually ended up in the ICU”. |