Purpose: Despite growing interest in health information sharing, researchers remain uncertain whether hospitals' sharing of information increases patient satisfaction, one of the key measures of the quality of care. This study evaluates the effect of health information sharing on patient satisfaction and whether the effect varies with context.
Methodology: Regression analysis was conducted using a sample consisting of 6,641 year-hospital observations, based on data from the annual and IT surveys of the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Census.
Findings: Our results suggest that information sharing using health IT increases patient satisfaction, while the extent (breadth) of information sharing increases patient satisfaction, the level of detail (depth) of information sharing does not. Our results also show that the effects of the breadth and depth of information sharing vary with different contexts, e.g., the percentage of people over 65 and Hirschman-Herfindahl index (HHI).
Practical Implications: Policymakers should pay greater attention to realizing the full benefits of hospitals' information sharing based on market characteristics.