For organizations that are thinking about using their EHR system to get involved in health information exchanges, there are some important considerations they need to make to ensure the success of such an initiative. Given the fact that information exchange will likely play an important role in the future of the meaningful use program, getting this right could be critical.

Sonal Patel, the vice president of client services at Corepoint Health, told Healthcare IT News that a practice's staff will likely be central to the success of any efforts to join an HIE. For this reason, she said providers should take advantage of educational opportunities.

"If they're not educated, they may need to be educated on the various topics," Patel told the news source. "What are the standards out there, what is an HIE and what does it mean to exchange data using the standards and integrated healthcare enterprise profiles?"

The exchange of patient data through the use of EHRs has been touted as the fulfillment of much of the promise of the technology, which is why government agencies are pushing hard for practices to participate in exchanges. The American Health Information Management Association states that HIEs are expected to improve care quality and safety while lowering costs.