Health Information Exchange (HIE)

Electronic Health Information Exchange is a medical program within the healthcare systems that allows the medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists among other healthcare providers along with the patients to suitably gain accessibility and ethically distribute vital medical data concerning a patient electronically. This is done to increase the speed, to enhance quality and reduce the cost of patient quality care and safety (Health IT.gov, 2013). In March 2010, the ONC conducted and released a report on the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program Awards, where 56 states in the United States, qualified States Designated Entities (SDE) and eligible territories qualified for the wards. California, which is my state was among the 56 States that qualified for the awards. Therefore, California States Health and Human Services Agency received an award totaling to $38,752,536.

To become an award recipient, the State or the SDC should have been responsible for improvement and increment of the connections and enforcer of patient-based information flow that is responsible for improving the quality as well as enhancement of the efficient health care and services. The principle criteria to the achievement of this condition that the State health systems must demonstrate a progressive evolution and development of proper governance, programs, policies, business activities, financial systems, and technical services for HIE over the four-year operational duration (Health IT.gov, 2013).

The State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program is essential in the United States health systems because it builds on the already present efforts to improve the regional as well as state-level HIE. Also, the program is advancing its influence towards the federal interoperability. Ultimately, the program establishes innovative as well as scalable resolutions for five primary health areas to improve the state of the health systems and applications (Health IT.gov, 2013).

References

Health IT.gov (2013). State Health Information Exchange: State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program. Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/topic/onc-hitech-programs/state-health-information-exchange