Page 14 Healthy Cells Magazine Peoria June 2014

cihie
T
wo years ago, June 5
probabl y seemed l i ke
just an ordinary day to
most people in Central Illinois.
However, for the team at Cen-
tral Illinois Health Information
Exchange (abbreviated CIHIE
and pronounced See-High),
that was a day that forever
changed health care in our
community. On that day, for
the very first time, patients
experienced a new opportunity
to make their patient records
from one office electronically
available to other offices, not
just within the same hospital
affiliation, but seamlessly to any
participating medical office.
That may not sound like
a monumental accompl i sh-
ment. After all, you can stick
your debit card into any ATM
machi ne i n the worl d and
access your financial accounts.
Your money gets where you
need it when you need it. Yet,
for countless patients every
day, easy access and portabil-
ity of medical records is an entirely different experience. Medical
records do not show up where needed, when needed, and the
result is costly. Delayed appointments, duplicated tests, missed
diagnoses, and dangerous medication conflicts happen when
information is missing.
June 5, 2012 was the day things started to change.
The Old Way Doesnt Work
It is no secret that the health care industry is keenly competitive.
Patients represent market share and, traditionally, a health care
facility benefits when they can keep you purchasing services from
them. One of the ways that facilities have historically done this is by
making it easier to do business with them and harder to do busi-
ness with their competitors. From a purely business perspective,
it was not in a facilitys interest to make it easy for you to pick up
your health care record and go elsewhere.
Today, health care providers are finding themselves faced with
a different world. Patients expect portability. Insurance companies
and other payers are shifting to payment models that intentionally
emphasize value over volume. In other words, the expectation is
for a positive outcome and a health care provider is supposed to
take the most efficient path to get to the positive outcome. When
they are able to do that, theyll see more profit. Every time a test or
Central Illinois Health Information Exchange
A Two-Year Anniversary
By Joy Duling, Executive Director of Central Illinois Health Information Exchange (CIHIE)
procedure is duplicative or care is poorly coordinated, theyll see
some of that potential profit slip away. At least, theoretically, thats
the way the models are supposed to work.
New payment models are not without their critics, but in gen-
eral, everyone agrees that the old way doesnt work. When health
care operates more effectively and efficiently, everyone benefits
patients and providers.
HIE: A Critical Success Factor
Secure, electronic health information exchange is already proving
to be a critical success factor for organizations that are facing these
new payment models. For example, effectively treating a patients
heart condition is a little easier if you can look up recent test results
while the patient is sitting in the exam room in front of you.
Sure, you could fax a request for records to the other office
and wait for the results to come back, but that may mean that you
cant effectively treat the patient today. If you do start treatment
today, you may find out that the treatment has already been tried.
Or that this patient forgot to tell you something that was of critical
importance that makes this particular treatment inappropriate for
him or her.
With electronic health information exchange available a physi-
cian or an authorized member of the clinical team is able to find
June 2014 Peoria Healthy Cells Magazine Page 15
cihie
the patients records from another participating office within just a
few keyboard strokes. This means that the patient doesnt have to
take off work to come back for another appointment and the health
care provider is able to confidently recommend the most effective
course of treatment. Everyone wins.
Across the country, health care organizations are acknowledg-
ing this necessity of HIE participation. In May, the Office of National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology published a brief
highlighting the emergence of data exchange.
According to the brief:
More than 60 percent of hospitals exchanged data with providers
outside of their networks in 2013.
The majority of hospitals electronically exchanged data with
ambulatory providers outside of their system, a 58 percent
increase since 2008.
Forty percent of hospitals exchanged health information with
hospitals outside of their system, up 167 percent from 2008.
The increase in data exchange activity is no surprise when you
view the trend within the context of the new emerging payment
models. An organization that is not capable of coordinating care
efficiently and effectively with community partners would be at a
significant disadvantage.
Beyond Central Illinois
In the first two years of operation, CIHIE has grown from a
handful of charter members to more than 35 participating organi-
zations, including 17 hospitals spanning the counties surrounding
Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Decatur, and Rockford. Thirty-two
long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing and assisted liv-
ing facilities, are connected, making Central Illinois one of the first
places in the country to include long-term care connectivity.
In May, connectivity was achieved with health information
exchanges serving other geographies of Illinois, including Lincoln
Land Health Information Exchange (LLHIE) in Springfield, Illinois;
Health Exchange Partners (IHEP) in Metro East St. Louis; and
MetroChicago Health Information Exchange (MCHIE) in Chicago.
This joint effort connects 63 hospitals and covers more than 92
percent of Illinois population.
Going forward, the CIHIE team is working with participating
organizations to identify other community partners that should be
included in the exchange and types of data that are proving to be
most advantageous. While CIHIE is already the most connected
exchange operating in Illinois, efforts will continue to ensure that
statewide and even interstate connectivity is achieved.
To learn more about Central Illinois Health Information Exchange
and the benefits for patients, you can visit www.cihie.org. CIHIE is
a nonprofit organization, established in 2009 by health care provid-
ers across the region to enable the secure electronic transmission
of patient health care records between participating offices.
Photo credit: Fuse/Thinkstock
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