Nearly 80% of U.S. hospitals either already have joined or plan to join a health information exchange, according to a new report from healthcare technology research and advisory firm CapSite.
With the U.S. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act focusing on stimulating the exchange of health information and meaningful use of electronic health records, CapSite's 2011 U.S. Health Information Exchange (HIE) Study found a market that has increasingly been adopting HIE technology since 2009, according to the company. CapSite is projecting this sector will continue to accelerate over the next 24 months.
In other report findings, 16% of hospitals said they plan to engage a professional services/consulting firm as part of their HIE strategic planning or vendor selection process, CapSite said. Master patient index (MPI)/patient and provider indexes, immunization reporting, and results reporting/delivery technology were the most popular HIE offerings that hospitals planned to purchase, according to the company.
The CapSite report included responses from more than 340 hospitals.
