Adoption, Usage, and Value of Health Information Exchange among Illinois Ambulatory Healthcare Clinics

Health information systems, such as electronic health records and e-prescription systems, are now common in many hospitals and healthcare organizations. These silos of patient data have limited effectiveness and value if healthcare organizations are unable to communicate patient health information to other parties. A Health Information Exchange (HIE) is a network enabling platform that facilitates electronic sharing of patient information among providers and healthcare organizations by acting as an infomediary between disparate health information systems. The potential benefits of using HIEs have propelled efforts at the national, regional, and state levels to promote the use of HIE. However, despite the potential benefits, there are a number of barriers to the adoption and usage of HIE that have, in the past, resulted in failure. Although half of U.S. hospitals now participate in a HIE, ambulatory clinics, particularly those not owned by a hospital or healthcare system, lag in the adoption and usage of HIE. Since nearly 60 percent of all physicians work in practices with fewer than 10 physicians, most of which are wholly-owned by physicians, understanding adoption and usage of HIE among practices and clinics is crucial to an overall understanding of the HIE implementation environment. This research focuses on key environmental, organizational, and technological factors that affect the adoption and usage of HIE by ambulatory clinics, and assesses the value derived from HIE usage. As questions remain regarding the usefulness of HIE by scholars and practitioners alike, this research illuminates key factors and provides insight into the adoption and usage of HIEs among ambulatory clinics in the state of Illinois.