Beyond Collecting Data – How Do You Make Information Exchange Work For Behavioral Health?

Health information exchange (HIE) between behavioral health specialists and the rest of the health care system is critical to integrated consumer care coordination. Without data exchange between provider organizations, integrated care coordination for individual consumers and for populations is not possible. It is a fundamental ingredient in making accountable care organizations (ACOs) and medical homes effective.

But despite a public policy focus on interoperability and data exchange, HIE has proven to be difficult – with a variety of stumbling blocks, from technology difficulties, to security concerns, to consumer worries about privacy and mental health stigma. The executives of many organizations that . . .