A snapshot of health information exchange across five nations: an investigation of frontline clinician experiences in emergency care

Objective: Ensuring the ability to exchange patient information among disparate electronic health records systems is a top priority and a domain of substantial public investment across countries. However, we know little about the extent to which current capabilities meet the needs of frontline clinicians. Materials and Methods: We conducted in-person, semistructured interviews with emergency care physicians and nurses in select hospitals in Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the USA. We characterized the state of health information exchange (HIE) by country and used thematic analysis to identify the perceived benefits of access to complete past medical history (PMH), the conditions under which PMH is sought, and the challenges to accessing and using HIE capabilities. Results: HIE approaches, and the information electronically accessible to clinicians, differed by country. Benefits of access to PMH included safer care, reduced patient length of stay, and fewer lab and imaging orders. Conditions under which PMH was sought included moderate-acuity patients, patients with chronic conditions, and instances where accessing PMH was convenient. Challenges to HIE access and use included difficulty knowing where information is located, delay in receiving information, and difficulty finding information within documents. Discussion: Even with different HIE approaches across countries, all clinicians reported shortcomings in their country's approach. Notably, challenges were similar and shaped the conditions under which PMH was sought. Conclusion: As countries continue to pursue broad-based HIE, they appear to be facing similar challenges in realizing HIE value and therefore have an opportunity to learn from one another.