Electronic health information exchange among hospitals and physicians has been steadily increasing in recent years, but disparities remain among rural and small hospitals as they may not be able to afford to participate, according to an April 21 survey from the GAO.
As of 2021, small and rural hospitals reported lower electronic exchanges compared to their medium and larger hospital counterparts.
For example the GAO survey found that:
- Only 30 percent of small and rural hospitals said they often send electronic information to EHR vendors, compared to 48 percent of larger and medium sized hospitals.
- Twenty-eight percent of small and rural hospitals said they often send electronic information to a national information exchange network compared to 43 percent of larger and medium sized hospitals.
- Thirty-six percent of small and rural hospitals said they often send electronic information to local or regional information exchange networks compared to 56 percent of larger and medium sized hospitals.
- Stakeholders that participated in the GAO survey said this is due to small and rural providers not having the financial and technological resources to participate in electronic exchanges.