A Health Information Exchange (HIE) is a secure clinical network that connects all medical trading partners within a specific geographic area.
Most U.S. health care is highly fragmented – comprised of independent hospitals and clinics, physicians, testing labs and imaging centers, pharmacies and other medical services. Each facility has its own separate patient record system and specialized workflow – a “silo of care” that makes it difficult for other clinicians to get patient information needed for effective diagnosis and treatment.
A Health Information Exchange (HIE) network connects all of the participating providers and their patient record systems within its defined medical community- a hospital, IDN, region or state. Once connected, patient-authorized participants can instantly receive and exchange their patient’s clinical results as well as access a complete and up-to-date medical record at the point of care. This record includes the patient’s relevant diagnoses, treatments, test results, x-rays and medications from all providers connected to the HIE.
This full and accessible medical record helps physicians make accurate assessments, select more effective treatments, and accomplish better and faster recoveries – better quality of care. In the process, the HIE makes health care more efficient, saving valuable physician, staff and patient time, eliminating redundant tests and x-rays, and reducing paperwork costs and delays. Access to this complete patient record is also critical to patient safety – for instance, by preventing life-threatening drug interactions when EMTs or ER personnel are treating patients who are unable to inform them of current medications or medical conditions.
Many vendors now offer Health Information Exchange systems, which vary widely in their interconnection capability, type and range of services delivered, handling of critical privacy and security issues, ease of deployment and usage – all factors which affect the value and sustainability of the HIE system.
Axolotl, now OptumInsight™, has been in the forefront of Health Information Exchange development since 1995 when the company introduced Clinical Messaging™, the underlying technology of any HIE system. Since then, Axolotl HIE solutions have consistently been the most successful, capable and highly-rated in the U.S.
Today, Axolotl HIE is connecting:
- 55,000+ physicians
- 165,000+ healthcare professionals
- 375+ hospitals
- 36 HIEs - 10 States, 15 RHIOs, 10 IDNs, 1 ACO
- 5 Beacon Communities
- 3 VLER Health Program Projects
- The only 2 EHNAC accredited HIEs
- The lives of more than 65 million patients
The most capable Health Information Exchange networks are now being viewed as the foundations for more integrated health care management systems addressing the clinical, operational and financial needs of health care organizations – increasingly needed to meet Federal mandates for greater quality and cost-efficiency in health care. In 2010, Axolotl was acquired by OptumInsight, (formerly Ingenix), part of Optum™, a health services business dedicated to making the health system work better for everyone.
For more information on how Axolotl HIE solutions are addressing connectivity, interoperability, range of services, privacy and security, sustainability and other critical issues, please click here.