To better track and securely share patients’ complete medical histories, more and more health care providers are participating in health information exchange (HIE). HIE helps facilitate coordinated patient care, reduce duplicative treatments and avoid costly mistakes. This practice is growing among health providers because the need for HIE is clear and the HIE benefits are significant. A few examples of HIE benefits include¹:

• Improve patient safety by reducing medication and medical errors;
• Increase efficiency by eliminating unnecessary paperwork and handling;
• Provide caregivers with clinical decision support tools for more effective care and treatment;
• Eliminate redundant or unnecessary testing;
• Improve public health reporting and monitoring;
• Engage healthcare consumers regarding their own personal health information;
• Improve healthcare quality and outcomes; and
• Reduce health related costs.