Importance of Health Information Exchange (HIE) for Realization of Health IT Value and Benefits Accessibility of patient data to all participants involved in patient care (both providers and the patients themselves), in a timely, cost-effective and secure manner, plays a major role in assuring the quality of care. The virtues of data sharing in healthcare (otherwise referred to as “health information exchange”) are broadly recognized and rarely disputed. Yet, despite several decades of major technological developments in information management, patient data in the U.S. healthcare system remain highly fragmented and frequently inaccessible both to patients and their providers, as the patient moves from one point of care to another.