Health Information Exchange in Emergency Medical Services

Background The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has outlined the benefits of health information exchange in emergency medical services (EMSs) according to the SAFR model—search, alert, file, and reconcile—developed in collaboration with the California Emergency Medical Services Authority. Objective This scoping review aims to identify and characterize progress toward the adoption of prehospital health information exchange, as reported in the peer-reviewed literature. Methods A structured review of literature in MEDLINE-indexed journals was conducted using the “Electronic Health Records” topic-specific query, the “Emergency Medical Services” Medical Subject Headings descriptor, and a prehospital identifier. Results Our initial search yielded 368 nonduplicative, English-language articles; 131 articles underwent full-text review and 11 were selected for analysis according to pre-established inclusion criteria. Original research was thematically grouped according to the SAFR model. Conclusion Within isolated systems, there has been limited progress toward the adoption of prehospital health information exchange. Interoperability, accurate match algorithms, security, and wireless connectivity have been identified as potential barriers to adoption. Additional research is required to evaluate the role of health information exchange within EMSs.