Question

Which of the following barriers to health information exchange are NOT addressed by HITECH?

a. There are few agreed-upon technical standards for health IT.
b. The transfer of information between institutions is not secure.
c. There are few statewide examples of health information exchange.
d. Hospitals may lose competitive advantage if they exchange information with others.

Answer 1

The HITECH Act does not address the potential loss of competitive advantage that hospitals might experience by exchanging health information with other institutions. The correct option is c.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was designed to address various barriers to health information exchange (HIE). However, it does not directly address the issue of competitive advantage for hospitals.

Specifically, hospitals may fear losing a competitive advantage if they freely exchange information with other entities, as it could potentially share their insights on service efficiency, patient demographics, and other strategic information.

The HITECH Act mainly focuses on promoting the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology through incentives, without directly compelling institutions to share information that could compromise their competitive position. The correct option is c.