A Health Information Exchange (HIE) is a system that enables the seamless, secure electronic transfer of healthcare information between individuals and organizations within a region, community, or healthcare system. The objective of Health Information Exchange is to enable safe, timely, cost-efficient patient-centric healthcare. HIEs also assist public health authorities in the analyses of epidemiology and support the general public health.
The secure, electronic exchange of medical information between authorized stakeholders throughout the continuum of care is critical to the delivery of high-quality, cost-efficient patient care. For example, HIEs can improve the quality of clinical decision-making by delivering accurate, up-to-date patient data and relevant information regarding best practices directly to the point-of-care.
Health information exchange systems must ensure that legal requirements and public expectations related to privacy and security are met through developing systems that meet or exceed requirements of federal and state laws. This website provides answers for patients and providers regarding the privacy and security issues that currently exist and safeguards that are in place for the electronic exchange of health information.