Driven partly by policies at the federal and especially the state levels, interest in and recognition of the value of mobilizing health information electronically has skyrocketed in the past year, said a report on the eHealth Initiative's 2006 Third Annual Survey of Health Information Exchange at the State, Regional and Community Levels.

The survey, which analyzed trends across the U.S. and included responses from representatives of 165 health information exchange (HIE) initiatives in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, led to the following findings:

Policy activity and leadership has increased significantly at the state level in the past year. The survey found 36 bills were passed in 24 states during 2005 and 2006 that called for the use of health information technology; HIE initiatives are continuing to mature. Among the 165 HIE initiatives identified by the 2006 survey, 45 are in the implementation stage, and 26 have identified themselves as fully operational; and More than 20 percent of respondents are exchanging clinical data electronically.