Exchange of clinical health information is critical to ensuring that providers have the best information possible when making decisions about patient care, minimizing repetition and errors, ensuring high-quality transitions of care and lowering costs.
The United States has experienced significant advancements in medical diagnostics and treatments for complex health problems in recent years; however, health care still lags far behind other sectors of the economy in the exchange of information to improve efficiency. Due to a variety of legal and market-based barriers, exchange of clinical health information between providers often does not occur, or occurs in a manner that does not allow for meaningful use of data to support optimal patient care.
The road map – “Getting the Right Information to the Right Health Care Providers at the Right Time: A Road Map for States to Improve Health Information Flow Between Providers” – was developed to activate governors and their senior state leaders to drive forward policies that support the seamless flow of clinical patient health care information between providers while protecting patient privacy, as a step toward nationwide interoperability
