Introduction
Widespread technology adoption creates new opportunities in health care, and rapid health information exchange (HIE) is one of the critical benefits, significantly affecting the population’s health. Several key technologies underpin HIE, supporting efficient and secure data sharing between facilities.
Key Technologies in Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Depending on the model chosen for the information exchange network, the peculiarities of the technology application may differ. In the case of Manchester Health Access Network (MHAN), a suitable HIE model is a hybrid one due to its moderate cost, required efficiency, and safety. Using technologies such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Clinical Data Warehouses (CDWs), and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), providers can extract and analyze a significant amount of data to obtain evidence to improve practice.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
EHRs, CDWs, and APIs are just some of the technologies used in HIE, but they substantially impact the process. EHRs are critical in managing and storing patient data, such as test results, medical history, and other information. They are essential stores of digital data and are a crucial source of information in the exchange process between providers. EHRs connect to the exchange network and provide access to data for users with the appropriate authorization (The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology [ONC], 2022). Moreover, the data in the EHR is constantly updated and, therefore, maintains the relevance of the information during exchange.
Clinical Data Warehouses (CDWs)
CDWs act as central repositories in which information is collected from multiple sources, including EHR. Other sources from which the warehouse can aggregate information include diagnostic or imaging systems. Through the use of CDWs, healthcare providers can store, organize, and use large amounts of data (Doutreligne et al., 2023). In HIE, this technology is applied to standardize data, ensuring it has a similar format and storing it in one place where authorized users can access it. As a result, CDWs make information exchange and interoperability possible, as they become a single point for accessing data.
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
Finally, APIs also play an influential role in information exchange. These technologies link different programs by giving them access to each other’s services (ONC, 2022). Its benefits have already been recognized in other sectors, and the inclusion of APIs in EHR can significantly facilitate HIE (ONC, 2022). As a result, the role of APIs in HIE is to ensure constant communication and exchange of information between network components, such as the transfer of data from the EHRs to the CDWs. Through a data transfer guarantee, APIs support interoperability to make information available to more users. Thus, the selected technologies work together, complementing each other to make HIE possible.
Data Extraction Using the Selected HIE Model
The highlighted technologies are relevant in the hybrid HIE model for MHAN for data extraction. The hybrid model combines the features of centralized and decentralized ones, which means that not all data will be available at once, and requests may be needed (Lee-Eichenwald, 2018). Several steps are required to extract data in the MHAN network using technology. In particular, network members must integrate APIs into their EHRs and CDW to support data transfer. As a result, APIs will allow providers to obtain available data and send requests for restricted information.
Moreover, APIs support data standardization processes to promote interoperability in the network. When establishing data exchange processes, providers also need to ensure data security through methods such as encryption and access control (ONC, 2022). Thus, integrating APIs into EHRs and CDW will allow data storage and extraction for HIE between different organizations.
Analyzing Data for Improved Patient Outcomes and Organizational Objectives
The data obtained, thanks to the highlighted technologies, is subject to analysis to improve patient outcomes and achieve the organization’s goals. In particular, EHRs provide individualized and enhanced patient care by disclosing information about their health and helping coordinate care. CDWs allow specialists to track patient outcomes, even if they contact another organization for help and help identify patterns and trends in population health.
APIs, in turn, support updating and standardizing data for analysis. These systems allow providers to make evidence-based decisions, improving practice and patient outcomes. Additional analytics and decision support tools can be integrated into them to make analysis easier for specialists. Moreover, evidence from information sharing is necessary for improvement initiatives, which may be the basis for achieving the organization’s goals.
Conclusion
Thus, EHRs, CDWs, and APIs underlie HIE processes in health care. EHRs act as tools for collecting and storing patient data. Thanks to APIs, such data can be transferred to CDWs so other providers can use it. In a hybrid exchange model for MHAN, EHRs, CDWs, and APIs can also improve the performance of the organizations involved and coordinate patient care based on the best evidence.
Moreover, the complementing functioning of identified technologies allows professionals to analyze a large amount of data and, based on them, make decisions to improve practice. As a result, organizations can increase performance and enhance patient outcomes, which is an essential goal in the case of MHAN. Such features make EHRs, CDWs, and APIs crucial elements for establishing an information exchange network, which will be beneficial for healthcare organizations and the public.
References
Doutreligne, M., Degremont, A., Jachiet, P. A., Lamer, A., & Tannier, X. (2023). Good practices for clinical data warehouse implementation: A case study in France. PLOS Digital Health, 2(7). Web.
Lee-Eichenwald, S. B. (2018). Health information technologies. In P. Oachs & A. Watters (Eds.), Health information management: Concepts, principles, and practice (6th ed, pp. 355-404). AHIMA Press.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (2022). Health Information Exchange. HealthIt. Web.