Strengthening the Foundation of Healthcare Interoperability, Surescripts Exchanges Patient Records for Nearly 20% of Americans

ARLINGTON, Va. – August 31, 2022 – Healthcare interoperability expanded significantly in the first half of 2022, with providers using Surescripts Record Locator & Exchange to access health records for more than 62 million patients and exchanging more than 622 million clinical documents in the first six months of 2022, an increase of 76% over the same time period in 2021.

With enhanced clinical intelligence capabilities, Surescripts is simplifying how healthcare professionals access patient records and care histories to inform diagnosis, treatment and prescribing, while eliminating communication barriers that impact efficiency and overall cost of care.

In the first six months of 2022, clinicians also sent 84.2 million clinical messages, an increase of 36.8% over the same time in 2021, and Surescripts delivered nearly 26% more medication histories for patient populations compared to the same time in 2021.

“Closing gaps in patient information, including patient care histories, means reducing risks to patient safety and allows providers to have better informed conversations with their patients, leading to better informed decisions, increased efficiency and lower costs,” said Frank Harvey, Chief Executive Officer of Surescripts. “We continue to set the bar for interoperability that allows providers to spend their time focused on caring for their patients instead of chasing down paperwork.”

Failures of care coordination cost the U.S. healthcare system up to $78.2 billion each year. In a 2019 survey of healthcare leaders, interoperability gaps were the second-most commonly cited barrier to value-based care, just behind lack of resources.

With Record Locator & Exchange, providers have access to patient visit and clinical document locations for more than 324 million patients. By leveraging the Carequality interoperability framework, providers using Record Locator & Exchange can quickly locate, exchange and access clinical history information across all 50 states, regardless of care setting or EHR. In the first six months of 2022, providers used Carequality to access another 188 million patient records through Surescripts.

“Healthcare professionals must be equipped with comprehensive patient information to provide the best care possible to their patients. The Carequality interoperability framework connects more than 600,000 providers to a huge array of patient data sources nationwide and ensures the integrity of the health information care teams are receiving. Empowering greater interoperability means improved efficiency for providers and significantly enhances patient safety,” said Alan Swenson, Executive Director of Carequality.

With more healthcare organizations participating in the Surescripts Network Alliance®, more clinicians and care managers are empowered by true interoperability. Surescripts is also putting this information to work with tools that allow providers to seamlessly communicate and bridge information gaps when coordinating patient care in scenarios such as patient intake, hospital admission, and transitions of care.

Surescripts Clinical Direct Messaging allows healthcare professionals to seamlessly and reliably send and receive information across multiple care collaboration scenarios within their existing workflows.

Surescripts Medication History for Populations proactively alerts clinicians and care managers to important care events or medication activity for patients, especially those in value-based care populations. Access to reliable medication history information—sent directly from pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies—gives care management teams a powerful tool to reduce readmissions, improve adherence and lower the cost of care.