Health information exchange as a method to manage healthcare costs: literature review

Background: Nowadays, health information exchange has been considered one of the fundamental issues in the healthcare system. Indeed, this approach requires the identification of the role and effect of the health information exchange and the challenges of its practical use in the field of the health economy.Objective: This research aims to study health information exchange for managing healthcare costs.Methods: There is a narrative review to analyze the process of health information exchange as a method to manage healthcare costs. 8078 papers have been received from the recognized database based on the selected keywords to achieve this aim. Furthermore, 42 of them have been studied as the major papers.Results: Literacy and knowledge about health have a significant role in individuals' lifestyles and the economy. It has created a basic concept which is called the information economy. The results of this research are categorized into three groups: health information, health information economy (the effect of information and information exchange on the economy), and health information exchange (information sources, the advantages and the requirement of its use and challenges). This research shows that the effect of health information exchange on the economy has been understood well. Health information exchange leads to decreasing medical errors and healthcare costs. On the contrary, the lack of on-time and exact access decreases healthcare quality and increases costs.Conclusions: The governments of the developing countries intend seriously to create facilities for the use of health information exchange.

Health information exchange as a method to manage healthcare costs: literature review Keywords:

Information Economy , Health Information , Health Information Exchange (HIE) , Health Systems , Health Economics