Dive Brief:
- A large-scale empirical study looking at the links between health information exchange (HIE) participation and imaging in hospital emergency departments (ED) has concluded that HIE's can cut back significantly on redundant imaging, saving millions of dollars.
- The study, which was done by researchers from Mathematica Policy and the University of Michigan, compared the rates of repeat CT scans, chest x-rays and ultrasounds at 37 EDs connected to an HIE to rates at 410 EDs not connected to HIE between 2007 and 2010. (The hospitals were in California and Florida.)
- The study found that hospital EDs participating in an HIE had less imaging and all the modalities, including 8.7% less repeat CT scan and 13% less chest x-rays.
Dive Insight:
These results are tantalizing. It's great to see that hospital EDs participating in an HIE cut down on excess imaging, and of course, it's great to see how much money this can save. The problem, however, is made plain by the study design -- only a small percentage of hospitals are participating in HIEs at this point. With studies like these to chew on, though, perhaps we'll see an acceleration of HIE participation in 2014.