Do Health Information Exchanges Deter Repetition of Medical Services?

Abstract

Repetition of medical services by providers is one of the major sources of healthcare costs. The lack of access to previous medical information on a patient at the point of care often leads a physician to perform medical procedures that have already been done. Multiple healthcare initiatives and legislations at both federal and state levels have mandated Health Information Exchange (HIE) systems to address this problem. This study aims to assess the extent to which HIE could reduce these repetitions, using data from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and a regional HIE organization. A 2SLS model is developed to predict the impact of HIE on repetitions of two classes of procedures: diagnostic and therapeutic. The first stage is a predictive analytic model that estimates the duration of tenure of each HIE member-practice. Based on these estimates, the second stage predicts the effect of providers’ HIE tenure on their repetition of medical services. The model incorporates moderating effects of a federal quality assurance program and the complexity of medical procedures with a set of control variables. Our analyses show that a practice’s tenure with HIE significantly lowers the repetition of therapeutic medical procedures, while diagnostic procedures are not impacted. The medical reasons for the effects observed in each class of procedures are discussed. The results will inform healthcare policy makers and provide insights on the business models of HIE platforms.