The exchange of health information between providers allows for increased care coordination and ultimately better care delivery. This is especially important for cancer patients.
"Cancer is an all-encompassing disease," says Kim Woofter, RN, OCN, the COO of Michiana Hematology Oncology in South Bend, Ind., and a board member of the Association of Community Cancer Centers. These patients often have multiple comorbidities necessitating visits to providers at various facilities, and providing the best care possible requires unimpeded communication between providers, she says.
At the inaugural forum of the ACCC's Institute for the Future of Oncology this summer, stakeholders from throughout the industry gathered to discuss furthering health information exchange adoption among community cancer centers to improve care, the main takeaways summarized in a recently released whitepaper. The discussion showed some cancer centers are exchanging data, but many organizations remain relatively isolated.
"What was surprising to me was the number of large centers, the centers I think of as sophisticated, that did not have access to a HIE," says Ms. Woofter. "They connect well inside of their walls but don't really connect to anything outside of their network."
Matt Farber, director of provider economics and public policy at ACCC, believes many cancer centers do not realize the potential advantages of sharing patient information. "A lot of people in the room were slow to realize the promise and opportunity of HIEs," he says. "They don't have a vision of what it can do and don't understand how it would really work." Inability to see the value of HIEs makes oncology practices less willing to spend the resources, both money and manpower, to connect.
That's not the only challenge to HIE adoption — many cancer centers see patient data as a competitive asset and are reticent to share. Many centers are worried about losing market share if patient data is available to most providers in the area, says Ms. Woofter. "I don't know if this was said aloud, but it was definitely an undertone," she says.
Even if centers are willing to begin sharing data, joining an HIE or connecting disparate systems can often prove technologically daunting. "There are multiple electronic health record systems even within health systems," says Mr. Farber. "And now we're asking them to be compatible with outside systems, which can be very difficult."
The first step to combating these challenges is for cancer centers and oncology practices to educate themselves about the benefits of participating in an HIE. "They need to know what it can do to help care for patients, that's step one," says Ms. Woofter. She also recommends looking beyond hospital partners to help avoid issues of non-interoperable systems and possible competition worries. "Look to large players in the community, people in the region who can assist you and will benefit in the same way. This isn't always hospitals, it can be payers, too," she says.
Additionally, cancer centers and practices should consider looking at HIE platforms hosted in different areas that may be easier to connect to, provided local providers are also connected. "I can use an HIE in Arizona as long as it includes providers in my region," she says.
The more proactive cancer centers are about beginning to exchange data, the better, says Mr. Faber. "Folks need to be working within their own system and with payers to start sharing data," he says. "Just sitting back and waiting for things to happen is not the best strategy."
More Articles on HIEs:
After Months-Long Impasse, Kansas HIEs to Connect
5 San Antonio Health Systems Connect to Regional HIE
First National Physician-Owned HIE Launches