Moving Toward Electronic Health Information Exchange: Interim Report on the Santa Barbara County Data Exchange

Publication Date: July 2003

Publisher: California HealthCare Foundation

Author(s): David Brailer; Nicholas Augustinos; Lori M. Evans; Sam Karp

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Coverage: California

Abstract:

Santa Barbara County is like many other health care markets in the United States. Health care there is delivered by numerous physicians, some solo practitioners and others in large groups, along with ancillary clinicians. These include several hospitals, public health facilities, and various pharmacies, laboratories, and imaging centers. The residents of Santa Barbara County receive their care from a personally crafted set of caregivers. As is the case elsewhere, the clinical information about each patient does not move easily, if at all, among caregivers or across time. The Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange (SBCCDE) project is demonstrating how a patient's clinical information can be readily accessible by any authorized person, including the patient, at the place and time it is needed. The organizational model for SBCCDE has been in place for more than two years and the technical model is in the final phase of pilot testing. This interim report provides an analysis of the Santa Barbara project up to July 2003, including detailed financial modeling by an independent consultant. The report concludes that community health information exchange is feasible and can be financially sustainable--creating a positive financial return both for the overall project and for each participant.