The ONC recently shared a case study on progress of state health information exchange programs, detailing the efforts of six states and finding both progress and gaps for the pursuit of interoperability.
No surprisingly, the six states – Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming – had significantly different challenges given the differing populations, presence of large-scale health systems and wide range in geographic differences, according to the study.
“Put another way, what works for Iowa may not work for New Hampshire,” ONC officials Matthew Swain, Kory Mertz and Kristina Celentano wrote in a blog post.
Other key findings include “the need to set tangible and achievable immediate goals that keep stakeholders energized,” the importance of collaboration among those taking part in an HIE, and “leveraging a variety of policy and regulatory levers to advance the interoperable exchange of information.”
Regarding the latter: “Meaningful use has provided significant impetus for exchange and promoted the use of infrastructure established by grantees. States are now linking their exchange efforts to the Affordable Care Act and other payment reform efforts,” officials said.
The six states offer a decent snapshot on large-scale data sharing efforts, but it’s nevertheless “only a small part” of the national landscape,
A recent systematic review conducted by the RAND Corporation found “a paucity” of studies that evaluate the usage and long-term effects of HIEs, making it “important for entities that share electronic health information to study and understand how HIE effects clinical and non-clinical processes and outcomes,” according to the ONC.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In 2009, the ONC created the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program, offering states and territories $564 million in funding and providing guidance for states to enable secure electronic information exchange.
