Health information exchanges are underutilized between hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, according to a study published in The American Journal of Managed Care.
To understand how skilled nursing facilities use HIEs, researchers reviewed audit log data on HIE use by three facilities that retrieved information on 5,487 patients discharged to their care between June 2014 and March 2017. The researchers also considered patient demographic data and conducted interviews at the discharging hospital and skilled nursing facilities.
Three study findings:
- Skilled nursing facilities used an HIE for 46 percent of patients for whom the service was available.
- Twenty-nine percent of patients' records were accessed via HIE within three days of hospital discharge.
- HIE use was 3.8 percent more likely for new patients, compared to those returning to the skilled nursing facility, and 6.8 percent more likely if the patient was discharged from the emergency department compared to an inpatient unit.
"HIE between hospitals and [skilled nursing facilities] is underused," the study concludes. "Creating value requires hospitals and [skilled nursing facilities] to codevelop system design, usage guidelines and workflows that meaningfully integrate HIE into care delivery."