Not so long ago, before the health information exchange, sitting in a waiting room at a doctors’ office there would be patients nervously clutching huge files of paperwork ready to show the doctor. This was their life in terms of health care and it was up to the doctor to decipher the seemingly endless array of medications taken or surgeries performed. Health Information Management has advanced and the patient no longer has to carry this paperwork from doctor to doctor, all thanks to the electronic Health Information Exchange, or HIE.

Defining HIE can be complex, however, simply put it allows health care providers and patients to securely access and share a patient’s vital medical record electronically, thus improving the quality, safety and ultimately the cost of patient care. Electronic Health Information Exchange will never replace provider-patient communication, it can, however, vastly improve the completeness of patient’s records. This can have a big effect on care, as past history, current medications and other information is reviewed by the doctor and patient together during visits.

There are many benefits to HIE participation. Some of the most significant are:

• Provides a more accurate setting to reduce medication and medical errors.
• Eliminates unnecessary testing, or worse, redundant testing.
• Eliminates unnecessary and space-consuming paperwork.
• Provides health care workers access to clinical support for better effective care and treatment options.
• Significantly improves public health reporting and monitoring.
• Increases patient education and involvement in their own health care.

Preventing errors is the number one topic among health care providers. Participating in HIE can help prevent errors by ensuring that everyone involved in a patient’s care has access to the same information. HIE drastically reduces the amount of time patients spend filling out paperwork and explaining to their doctor their medical history. This, in turn, gives the patient more time for discussions about specific health problems and which treatment is best for them. HIE also provides better efficiency by sending follow-up instructions directly to patients, and even prescriptions can be sent directly to pharmacies.

Transitioning to Electronic Health Information Exchange may seem like a daunting task as a provider, but the value of electronically exchanging information is in the standardization of data. By saving time for patients and providers along the winding road of health care, HIE has the potential to both reduce costs and improve the health of each and every patient.

Transitioning to electronic health records lessens the opportunity for errors in medical coding as well. Avoiding these errors increases promptness of payment to your office. At Professional Dynamic Network, at national medical coding company, can accept electronic healthcare records securely and efficiently code these records for you in our remote coding facility.

If you are ready to transition to a more efficient and effective way of health information management, contact us for a health records coding quote.