BHIE

BHIE is an acronym for Bidirectional Health Information Exchange, a series of communications protocols developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is used to exchange healthcare information between Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities nationwide and between VA healthcare facilities and Department of Defense healthcare facilities.

It is one of the most widely used healthcare data exchange systems in routine healthcare use, and is used to facilitate healthcare data exchange associated with a patient's medical record.

Types of data managed

Outpatient pharmacy data, allergy data, patient identification correlation, laboratory result data (including surgical pathology reports, cytology and microbiology data, chemistry and hematology data), lab orders data, radiology reports, problem lists, encounters, procedures, and clinical notes are examples of the types of healthcare data that are exchanged using BHIE.

Integration with Electronic Health Record systems

BHIE is currently integrated into the VistA EMR (electronic medical record) system used nationwide in Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. This integration is able to provide increased efficiency in healthcare for veterans. Veterans Hospitals have regional specialized capabilities, and veterans often travel to receive specialized care. Their VistA medical records are able to be transmitted in their entirety using this protocol.

History

BHIE was developed in a stepwise fashion. It was initially termed the CHCS-VistA DSI.

In March 2006, the usage of BHIE across the country was outlined before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.cite journal|journal=Department of Veterans Affairs Congressional and Legislative Affairs|date=2006-03-08|url=http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/hvac/sh/060308JP.asp|title=Statement of Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PHD, MSHA, FACP, Undersecretary for Health Department of Veterans Affairs Before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs]

Initially, the Department of Defense was able to transfer healthcare data in a one-way fashion to VA hospitals and healthcare facilities using FHIE (Federal Health Information Exchange). In the next phase, bidirectional information sharing became desirable. To facilitate data exchange between the incompatible electronic medical record systems of the Department of Defense and VA facilities, an interface called SHARE was developed. This allowed BHIE to be used. In 2007 the DoD's AHLTA interface was connected to BHIE to allow AHLTA clinicians to see VA data and VA clinicians to see DoD data stored within the CDR. Additionally in 2007 the Theater Medical Data Store (TMDS) was connected to BHIE to allow VA and DoD clinicians to access medical records from combat theaters.cite journal|journal=Military Medical Technology Online|date=2005-05-05|accessdate=2005-07-05|url=http://www.military-medical-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=932|title=VA’s information sharing initiatives aim for seamless transition]

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