Advancing Health Information Exchange (HIE) During Inter-hospital Transfer (IHT) to Improve Patient Outcomes

Launched by BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · Jun 29, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study is testing a new Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform to improve how clinical information is shared when a patient is transferred from one hospital to Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The goal is to see if better, faster access to the right patient information reduces medical errors and other safety problems within 72 hours after transfer. The platform will be used in three real-world transfer scenarios (hospitals within the same system, hospitals using a common electronic health record, and hospitals with different systems). There will be a baseline period with usual care, followed by a 6-month “wash-in” period, and then the intervention period where the new HIE is used. Researchers will look at clinician-reported errors, adverse events, and how usable and helpful the information exchange is, along with some time-based measures from hospital records.

Who may be eligible: adults 18 and older who are transferred from one of three hospitals (Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, South Shore Hospital, or Milford Regional Medical Center) to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and admitted to general medicine, cardiology, oncology, or ICU services. People under 18, transfers from other hospitals, ER admissions, direct admissions from home/clinic, or admissions to services other than those listed are not included. Participation does not involve a direct treatment or procedure for patients; the study collects information from clinicians and hospital data. The study is taking place at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, with about 1,000 expected participants over the course of the project, and results are not yet available. Data are shared in aggregate and not as individual patient data outside the study team.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age greater than or equal to 18 years old
• • Transferred from one of the 3 included transferring hospitals (Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, South Shore Hospital, Milford Regional Medical Center)
• • Admitted to the general medical, cardiology, oncology, and/or ICU services at Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Age \< 18 years old
• • Transferred from a different acute care hospital than the 3 included hospitals
• • Admitted through the ER
• • Direct admission from home/clinic
• • Admitted to a service other than general medicine, cardiology, oncology or ICU at Brigham and Women's Hospital