Recent research found that hospitals with health information exchange (HIE) have fewer readmissions than do hospitals that are not part of HIE. This study looked at data from 160 Florida hospitals and focused on patients who had been hospitalized for a heart attack.

Study results, published in Health Affairs, showed that hospitals participating in HIE had a decreased probability of unplanned 30-day readmissions for heart attack. These hospitals’ decrease was 1.3 percentage points larger than at hospitals without HIE.

This decrease was driven primarily by reduced readmissions to hospitals other than those that provided initial inpatient treatment. A recent article in McKnights Long-Term Care News, “Healthy info exchange between providers found to cut readmissions,” noted that approximately 8.3% of the patients studied were transferred to a skilled nursing facility, and 13.2% were sent to a home health agency.

The article also shared thoughts of the study’s lead author, Min Chen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Information Systems and Business analytics at Florida International University. Chen noted the importance of hospitals exchanging information beyond other hospitals, such as with skilled nursing facilities and other providers, and said it’s clear that HIE can help skilled providers improve outcomes. 

The study’s results may have positive implications for policy. Health Affairs wrote that the findings indicate HIE can help improve quality measures targeted by the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program—and could help achieve broader policy goals. An example is a new federal rule that would lessen hospitals’ ability to block requests for patient information from skilled nursing facilities and others.