As of 2021, small and rural hospitals reported lower electronic exchanges compared to their medium and larger hospital counterparts.
For example the GAO survey found that:
- Only 30 percent of small and rural hospitals said they often send electronic information to EHR vendors, compared to 48 percent of larger and medium sized hospitals.
- Twenty-eight percent of small and rural hospitals said they often send electronic information to a national information exchange network compared to 43 percent of larger and medium sized hospitals.
- Thirty-six percent of small and rural hospitals said they often send electronic information to local or regional information exchange networks compared to 56 percent of larger and medium sized hospitals.
- Stakeholders that participated in the GAO survey said this is due to small and rural providers not having the financial and technological resources to participate in electronic exchanges.
