As health information exchanges continue to grow and mature, many are adding new features that could play important roles in the future of healthcare by unlocking much of the full potential of electronic health records.

For example, officials from the Rhode Island Quality Institute, which operates a state-wide health information exchange, recently announced a new feature that allows doctors to access patient information remotely using their EHR system and a connected patient portal, according to CMIO.

Through the data locator, physicians can find patients' lab results, treatment histories, prescription information and other relevant data. What makes the development significant is that the network already has information on nearly 200,000 patients with about 8,000 individuals joining the network monthly, according to the news source.

Future rounds of the government's meaningful use rules are expected to require greater amounts of information transmission. As health information exchange networks continue to develop in this manner, they could facilitate physicians' pursuit of this important health IT goal, making it easier and more efficient for them to transfer data to one another.