The opt-out consent model is the “overwhelming choice for HIEs in the nation,” according to Anna Daly, HIE coordinator for Informatics Corp. of America.

In her education session 12, “The Virtues of an Opt-Out Consent Model for an HIE,” tomorrow evening at 6:00-7:00 PM CST, Daly will discuss why this approach is ideal.

The model is based on the idea that the population base will allow other healthcare providers to access their information for healthcare purposes without pre-approval and that they can inform the health information exchange (HIE) if they don’t want to share information.

“The model requires education of the patient population prior to launch and a trusted network of providers,” she said.

By choosing this model, stakeholders can include a day-one ready HIE, thereby eliminating the “empty HIE syndrome.” It also reduces administrative involvement prior to the launch of an HIE, she said.

Daly noted that attendees who are interested in and responsible for making decisions regarding patient consent in the HIE arena, and those concerned with the value and adoption of the investments into an HIE would benefit from her education session.

“The topic remains a core factor that drives many decisions and polarizes many privacy and security committees regarding the issue of when, if, how and to what extent individuals exercise control over their health information,” she said. “It represents one of the most critical policy challenges facing the electronic exchange of health information today.”

So long as patients are properly educated, the opt-out consent model is “the most logical choice” for patients, providers and the community at large to achieve the goal of an HIE to provide clinicians the most secure, accurate, up-to-date patient records at the point of care.

“It is the model most associated with successful HIE deployment,” Daly said.