Integrating EMS and HIE

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Health information exchange (HIE) is the mobilization of health information between organizations and healthcare providers. It is a secure method of sharing vital patient information and is part of a national initiative designed to improve the quality of care, safety and efficiency of the health delivery system. Unfortunately, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) healthcare information has not traditionally been included as part of this effort and, as a consequence, a vital part in the continuum of a patient’s care has been missing and not available to other healthcare providers. During the past several years, Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency (ICEMA) has been implementing processes that facilitate the exchange of health information between EMS providers and other organizations throughout San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono counties. In 2014, ICEMA proposed a pilot project to the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) designed to evaluate ways to integrate EMS data into HIE. The ultimate goal was to improve the quality of healthcare for patients in the community and provide a new service to county residents that filled the gap in the provision of medical care by including EMS care data into the continuum of patient care. The pilot project, known as Integrating EMS and HIE, was completed in September 2015.