In our last post of the HIE patient consent series, we described why attaining patient consent is necessary to the success of an HIE. But to the average patient — you know, the one who isn’t a hospital CIO in their downtime — the concept of an HIE can raise privacy concerns. To overcome this, healthcare organizations need to educate patients on how HIEs work, assure them that their information will remain confidential and secure, and explain to them the benefits of electronically sharing patient information via this exchange.

According to the American Medical Association and the Markle Foundation, four in five American consumers believe that using an online patient health record (PHR) would yield major benefits to them in managing their health care. In spite of this, the usage of PHRs has been very low to date, due in some part to patient concerns about privacy of their personal health information.

There are similar privacy concerns with an HIE. However, the HIE plays a critical role in the population of PHRs with clinical data from sources around the health care community. HIE stakeholders — such as hospitals, health plans, individual practice associations, etc. — should consider sponsoring or supplying a PHR to patients that is not only already pre-integrated to the HIE, but also empowers patients by allowing them access to the PHR on their own terms. By letting patients set the consent policies and access rules for their records on the HIE, the HIE potentially is helping to quell these patient concerns.

Effective patient education is key to increased patient involvement and empowerment, and this can be achieved by PHRs connected to the HIE. Doing so enables them to send and receive health care information to their own PHR and share it efficiently with the professionals providing care. But how do you promote this participation successfully?

  • One way is to go directly to the patient. They need to be presented with the facts about HIEs when they are registering. Registration personnel should be well-trained to explain the exchange and its benefits in layman’s terms, and address any questions from patients.
  • Beyond just the patient visit though, HIEs can implement broader, community-wide consumer education programs to help garner patient participation. These campaigns often include radio or TV commercials/appearances, direct mailings, billboards, presentations at local community meetings, and/or fact sheets, and can serve as resources for patients who have questions about an HIE or concerns about participating in one.
  • Alternatively, making clinical staff aware of the exchange and explaining the benefits of their participation allows them to advocate for an HIE and encourage patient participation. Physician champions can lead to increased buy-in from patients, peers, and community leaders.

The best marketing program for each HIE will depend on its unique market, but at the heart of it all is the educated consumer. Informed consumers are engaged consumers, and engaged consumers are satisfied consumers. As the health care industry becomes more competitive and moves toward coordinated care and market-based economics, business models that place the consumer at the center of the health care universe will be in positions of strength.

–Glenn Keet