Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22648609›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2013

Does health information exchange reduce unnecessary neuroimaging and improve quality of headache care in the emergency department?

James E Bailey, Jim Y Wan, Lisa M Mabry, Stephen H Landy, Rebecca A Pope, Teresa M Waters, Mark E Frisse

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
8.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The role of information systems in emergency department decision-making-a literature review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024
    Pooled it
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  5. Electronic connectivity between hospital pairs: impact on emergency department-related utilization.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
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  8. Electronic connectivity between hospital pairs: impact on emergency department-related utilization.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2023
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  9. Article
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  11. Impact of Provider Prior Use of HIE on System Complexity, Performance, Patient Care, Quality and System Concerns.Information systems frontiers : a journal of research and innovation · 2022
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  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Observational
  15. The complementary nature of query-based and directed health information exchange in primary care practice.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2020
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  16. Article
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  19. Patients Visiting Multiple Emergency Departments: Patterns, Costs, and Risk Factors.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2017
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  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

James E BaileyDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 956 Court Avenue, Coleman D222, Memphis, TN 38163, USA. jeb@uthsc.edu
Jim Y Wan
Lisa M Mabry
Stephen H Landy
Rebecca A Pope
Teresa M Waters
Mark E Frisse
University of Tennessee Health Science Center · USVanderbilt University Medical Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHealth information exchange (HIE) is advocated as an approach to reduce unnecessary testing and improve quality of emergency department (ED) care, but little evidence supports its use. Headache is a specific condition for which HIE has theoretical benefits.

objectiveTo determine whether health information exchange (HIE) reduces potentially unnecessary neuroimaging, increases adherence with evidence-based guidelines, and decreases costs in the emergency department (ED) evaluation of headache.

designLongitudinal data analysis SUBJECTS: All repeat patient-visits (N = 2,102) by all 1,252 adults presenting with headache to a Memphis metropolitan area ED two or more times between August 1, 2007 and July 31, 2009.

interventionUse of a regional HIE connecting the 15 major adult hospitals and two regional clinic systems by authorized ED personnel to access the patient's record during the time period in which the patient was being seen in the ED. MAIN MEASURES: Diagnostic neuroimaging (CT, CT angiography, MRI or MRI angiography), evidence-based guideline adherence, and total patient-visit estimated cost. KEY

resultsHIE data were accessed for 21.8 % of ED patient-visits for headache. 69.8 % received neuroimaging. HIE was associated with decreased odds of diagnostic neuroimaging (odds ratio [OR] 0.38, confidence interval [CI] 0.29-0.50) and increased adherence with evidence-based guidelines (OR 1.33, CI 1.02-1.73). Administrative/nursing staff HIE use (OR 0.24, CI 0.17-0.34) was also associated with decreased neuroimaging after adjustment for confounding factors. Overall HIE use was not associated with significant changes in costs.

conclusionsHIE is associated with decreased diagnostic imaging and increased evidence-based guideline adherence in the emergency evaluation of headache, but was not associated with improvements in overall costs. Controlled trials are needed to test whether specific HIE enhancements to increase HIE use can further reduce potentially unnecessary diagnostic imaging and improve adherence with guidelines while decreasing costs of care.

Indexed as

Medical Informatics ApplicationsAdolescentAdultAgedElectronic Health RecordsEmergency Service, HospitalEvidence-Based MedicineFemaleGuideline AdherenceHeadache DisordersHealth Care CostsHealth Information SystemsHealth Services ResearchHumansLongitudinal StudiesMale

Identifiers

PMID22648609
PMCPMC3614141
OpenAlexW2025347810

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.