Does Health Information Exchange Improve Patient Outcomes? Empirical Evidence From Florida Hospitals

Achieving widespread exchange of health information is a national health policy objective, for it is believed to boost treatment efficiency, reduce health care costs, and improve patient outcomes. We used state-level data for 2011-14 from Florida to examine the relationship between hospitals' participation in health information exchange (HIE) and quality and health outcomes. HIE participation was associated with a decrease in the probability of unplanned, thirty-day readmissions for acute myocardial infarction that was 1.3 percentage points greater than that seen at nonparticipating hospitals. This decrease was driven primarily by reduced readmissions to hospitals other than those that provided initial inpatient treatment. These findings indicate that HIE can be leveraged to improve quality measures targeted by the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and may hold promise for achieving broader policy goals.