Electronic health information exchange has been progressively expanding among hospitals and physicians. However, a significant gap exists between rural and small hospitals and their larger counterparts due to financial and technological constraints, as revealed by a recent GAO survey.
The survey found that small and rural hospitals reported lower rates of electronic exchanges compared to medium and larger hospitals. Some key findings from the GAO survey include:
- Only 30% of small and rural hospitals frequently send electronic information to EHR vendors, as opposed to 48% of medium and larger hospitals.
- A mere 28% of small and rural hospitals regularly send electronic information to a national information exchange network, compared to 43% of medium and larger hospitals.
- Just 36% of small and rural hospitals often send electronic information to local or regional information exchange networks, while 56% of medium and larger hospitals do so.
Participants in the GAO survey cited limited financial and technological resources as the primary reasons for the disparity between small and rural providers and their larger counterparts in electronic health information exchange.
Don’t let your hospital fall behind in the digital age. Our EHR services help bridge the gap in electronic health information exchange.
This article is an adaptation of a piece originally published on Becker’s Hospital Review.
