Perceived Benefits of Indiana Health Information Exchange Clinical Messaging Application by Physician Practices

Abstract

According to researchers, standardized health information exchange could save billions annually in the United States by eliminating redundant laboratory tests and cost associated with paper ordering and results reporting. Indianapolis’s Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) Docs4Docs (D4D) application delivers results such as lab, radiology and dictation from the five major hospital systems in the Indianapolis area to local physician offices. Despite this technology, the release of information section at St Vincent still receives hundreds of calls a week for health information from local providers. One explanation for the continued high volume of requests is that the local physician practices are not using D4D and may be resistant to new technology. Diffusion theory states that the rate of adoption of innovation is related to the user’s perception of the attributes of the innovation rather than the actual attributes. A survey was developed to assess perception of benefits among users of D4D which would help explain resistance to technology. The survey was sent to 404 users who had web access to D4D and who had at one time received results from St. Vincent Hospital through the application. One hundred and thirty seven (137) responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The results of the study indicate that there is a high perception of benefits among D4D users as indicated by a satisfaction rating of 4.08 on a 5 point Likert scale. The users also reported that D4D was the most frequently used method of obtaining results from St. Vincent Hospital. Further research will be necessary to determine possible reasons for the high number of requests for health information that is available through D4D. Despite existing technology there still is a large gap between results delivery through D4D and the health information needed for the continuum of care.