The Value Of Health Care Information Exchange And Interoperability: There is a business case to be made for spending money on a fully standardized nationwide system.
Abstract
In this paper we assess the value of electronic health care information exchange and interoperability (HIEI) between providers (hospitals and medical group practices) and independent laboratories, radiology centers, pharmacies, payers, public health departments, and other providers. We have created an HIEI taxonomy and combined published evidence with expert opinion in a cost-benefit model. Fully standardized HIEI could yield a net value of dollar 77.8 billion per year once fully implemented. Nonstandardized HIEI offers smaller positive financial returns. The clinical impact of HIEI for which quantitative estimates cannot yet be made would likely add further value. A compelling business case exists for national implementation of fully standardized HIEI.
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eHealth adoption and ongoing maintenance requires a large capital investment.
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From Health Care Provider Adoption of eHealth: Systematic Literature Review (2013) · cites this paper as [131]
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- Authors
- Walker, J., Pan, E., Johnston, D., Adler-Milstein, J., Bates, D. W., & Middleton, B.
- Affiliations
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- The authors are with the Center for Information Technology Leadership, Partners HealthCare System, in Boston, Massachusetts. Jan Walker ( ) is its executive director; Eric Pan, associate fellowship director and a senior analyst; Douglas Johnston, a senior analyst; Julia Adler-Milstein, a research analyst; David Bates, a member of the executive committee; and Blackford Middleton, chairman. Bates is also chief of the Department of General Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston)...
- Venue
- Health Affairs
- Publisher
- Health Affairs Publishing, LLC
- Published
- 2005-01
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- Suppl1
- Pages
- W5-10-W5-18
- ISSN
- 0278-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 1544-5208
- OpenAlex
- W2034898504
- Cited by
- 811
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 54 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 48
- FWCI
- 94.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Affairs (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Electronic Health Records Systems
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Healthcare Policy and Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Healthcare Systems and Technology
- Keywords
- interoperability, electronic health records, cost-benefit analysis, standardization, business case, healthcare workers, laboratory, pharmacy, payers, public health departments
- MeSH terms
- Cost-Benefit Analysis, Delivery of Health Care, United States, Information Dissemination, Public Health Informatics
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