Fiscal Year 2010 Directed Source Award

Health information technology (health IT) allows comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between health care consumers and providers. Broad use of HIT has the potential to improve health care quality, prevent medical errors, increase the efficiency of care, reduce unnecessary health care costs, increase administrative efficiencies, decrease paperwork, expand access to affordable care, and improves population health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has taken numerous steps to support a nationwide, interoperable, and private electronic health information system which will include electronic health records (EHRs) for all Americans and the secure exchange of information among providers. Health information exchanges (HIEs) can be key tools for sharing electronic health records (EHRs) across disparate information platforms. Among the issues in promoting information exchange between providers will be how HIE implementation is funded and implemented so that the best outcomes in terms of quality of care and cost efficiency are encouraged across the spectrum of provider organizations. The research project that is the subject of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will use data derived from an existing innovative military/private provider HIE partnership, along with analysis of other existing partnerships, to examine development of provider usage patterns, calculate return on investment (ROI) measures, and document evidence-based practices that include usage funding and pricing recommendations. A multi-disciplinary team of university-based business analysts working through the University of West Florida’s (UWF) Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development will examine local HIE program implementation to generate insights into interoperability and system integration that may be applied more broadly.