In this excerpt from an article published in Managed Care Magazine, authors talk about the need for care coordination and provide the results of a recent survey showing the current state of affairs among high-need patients. Read the full story on Managed Care.

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“De Brantes believes another answer lies in health information exchanges providing a central repository of patient data. “It starts by having an unfettered flow of clinical data between all the providers that touch a patient,” he says. Easy, secure electronic messaging among providers would also help.

Those seemingly simple goals have been elusive in most health care markets because of conflicting software and competing providers who lack incentives to share patient information. Recognizing those challenges, the Camden Coalition has invested in legal and technical staff to iron out information-sharing difficulties and privacy concerns. Still, says Craig, it’s frustrating.

“Even when we make a concerted effort to make the information available online, people don’t use it,” she says. “It’s only as helpful as someone’s willingness to use that system. Folks may not have time or the right workflows to access that, and then you’re not improving quality and duplication of effort happens.”