How a Health Information Exchange Can Boost COVID-19 Vaccination

Health information exchanges (HIEs) are needed to help states identify and prioritize individuals who receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Without leveraging HIEs, the coronavirus recovery timeline could extend.

HIE networks can streamline patient data sharing between providers. Because these platforms can exchange lab results, admission records, and prescriptions, public health officials can leverage them to monitor outbreaks and vaccination status.

An HIE platform can assess when a community or population is likely to achieve herd immunity. The platform can evaluate this by having a longitudinal view of patient medical records to see a patient’s vaccination status.

The two authors said public health officials could leverage HIE data to assemble a list of age-eligible individuals and high-risk individuals. Once identified, officials can contact those individuals to ensure they are vaccinated.