COVID-19 Collaboration: Public Health Partnership And Hospital Health Information Sharing

Abstract

The necessity of efficient communication and information exchange between public health systems (PHSs) and health care organizations was brought to light by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In hospital settings, especially in underserved areas, health information exchange (HIE) is essential for enhancing efficiency and quality control.
The purpose of this study was to examine how hospitals' HIE availability varied by community social determinants of health and their cooperation with the PHS and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in 2020.
Methods: The linked data sets from the 2020 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey and the AHA Information Technology Supplement served as the main source of data for this investigation. Hospital participation in HIE networks, data exchange accessibility, and HIE measures during the COVID-19 pandemic such as whether hospitals successfully received electronically transmitted information from outside providers for COVID-19 treatment were among the metrics used.
Conclusions: Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital collaboration with the PHS and ACO affiliation is linked to increased availability of electronic health data.